A very informative double beta
There is no doubt that the beta of Marathon was instructive for Bungie. But it was also for Embark Studios. This is what Virgil Watkins, technical director within the studio, declares at PC Gamer, in an interview where he discusses the proximity that there was between the beta of Marathon and that ofARC Raiders. A proximity that Embark Studios could have lacked, but it turned out thatARC Raiders convinced the public more than Bungie’s game. And if there were lessons to be learned for the beta of its own game, Embark Studios knew it also had to look at what Bungie had learned on its side :
“ It was pure coincidence that they [Bungie] had their test at the same time as us. To my knowledge, I don’t think any of us knew this was going to happen. It was a great test for us, because obviously they made decisions that we didn’t make, and vice versa. So we were able to compare and contrast the results of some of these decisions. »
And with all these lessons, ARC Raiders could emerge as a pleasant surprise at the end of the year. During its last technical test, the game recorded a peak of almost 190,000 people connected simultaneously on Steam, which is no small feat for a brand new license. Let’s now hope that the lesson was reciprocal and that Bungie took a lot of notes from the competition’s work.