ARC Raiders vs Hunt: Showdown 1896—Which Should You Play?

Updated 11 November 2026 · Standard formula, shown below

Choose ARC Raiders if you want a third-person, science-fiction extraction adventure built around scavenging, crafting, and fighting machines as well as other players. Choose Hunt: Showdown 1896 if you want tense first-person matches centered on tracking a monster, reading sound cues, and deciding whether to risk a fight with rival hunters. Both are extraction shooters, but they deliver very different kinds of pressure.

Two different takes on extraction

Extraction shooters put valuable gear or gathered loot at risk: enter a dangerous map, collect what you can, and reach an exit before you are eliminated or the match ends. The genre’s appeal comes from making choices matter. A modest haul safely extracted may be better than a valuable objective lost in a late fight.

ARC Raiders, developed by Embark Studios, is set on a future Earth where people survive underground while robotic ARC forces control much of the surface. Players, known as Raiders, venture topside to gather supplies and complete objectives. Its third-person perspective makes movement and awareness feel more familiar to players of action games, while the hostile machines give encounters a threat beyond human opponents.

Hunt: Showdown 1896, from Crytek, is a first-person PvPvE game set in a grim, supernatural version of the late nineteenth-century American frontier. Teams hunt a boss creature, claim its bounty, and attempt to extract while other hunters may pursue them. Its defining tension is often not a constant firefight but the possibility that one gunshot, footstep, or sound trap has revealed where a team is.

How a match feels

In ARC Raiders, exploration and scavenging share space with combat against ARC machines and other Raiders. You can search the surface for useful materials and equipment, but staying longer can mean meeting more threats. A fight with a machine may also attract human players, turning a straightforward encounter into an uncertain three-way situation. The game’s third-person view supports looking around cover, though it does not make a dangerous area safe.

Hunt gives matches a more focused objective loop: investigate clues to locate a boss lair, defeat the target, pick up its bounty, and escape. The bounty is valuable partly because carrying it can make your position easier for opponents to track. You can also choose to engage or avoid other teams, but the map’s objectives and exits create points where confrontation is hard to ignore.

The games differ in how they build suspense. ARC Raiders can create pressure through a busy mix of machines, scavenging, and players. Hunt often creates it through uncertainty: a quiet approach can abruptly become a fight, and a team that has completed its objective still has to survive the trip out.

Combat, teamwork, and learning curve

Hunt rewards patience, careful aim, and sound awareness. Its weapons reflect the setting, with firearms that generally demand deliberate shots and reload management rather than the feel of a modern automatic-shooter loadout. Environmental noises and traps can provide clues to nearby hunters, so learning to listen is as important as learning to shoot. New players may find that unfamiliarity with maps and weapon handling makes early encounters unforgiving.

ARC Raiders offers a different combat problem: opponents can be human or mechanical, and those threats do not necessarily behave alike. The broader scavenging-and-crafting structure gives materials and equipment a role beyond a single encounter. Players who enjoy adapting to mixed threats may find its loop easier to approach than a game built around one highly specialized duel style, though extraction risk still makes careless fights costly.

Pick ARC Raiders if third-person movement, exploring for resources, and fighting a mixture of AI machines and players sound appealing.
Pick Hunt: Showdown 1896 if you want first-person gunfights, deliberate tracking, and a strong emphasis on sound and ambushes.
For either game, expect to learn through losses: map knowledge, extraction routes, and knowing when to disengage matter as much as winning a duel.

Both support squad play, but neither removes the need for communication. A group that agrees on whether to pursue an objective, avoid a fight, or leave with its current haul is less likely to lose everything through indecision. Solo players should also consider whether they enjoy making those calls without teammates.

Progression and the stakes of losing

In extraction games, “losing your gear” can refer to equipment brought into a match, not necessarily every form of long-term progress. The exact progression systems differ and can change with updates, so check each game’s current in-game explanations before assuming that a death erases a character or all progress. In both, the practical risk is that a failed run can cost an opportunity to bring home what you found and may leave you needing to replace lost equipment.

Hunt ties its identity closely to hunter characters, loadouts, and bounty runs. Its stakes can feel personal because a risky push may put a carefully equipped hunter in danger. ARC Raiders puts more emphasis on collecting resources and using the game’s crafting and equipment systems as part of ongoing surface expeditions. If managing a stash and weighing the value of a haul is satisfying, both offer that decision-making, but the fiction and match goals make it feel different.

A common misconception is that extraction shooters are simply battle royale games with loot. They share the possibility of being eliminated by other players, but an extraction match is organized around getting out with what you have gathered or earned. In Hunt, the bounty objective gives that goal a clear focal point; in ARC Raiders, scavenging and surviving the surface expedition are central to the experience.

Which one is the better fit?

Choose based on the tension you want, rather than assuming one is a direct substitute for the other. ARC Raiders is the stronger fit for someone curious about a cooperative-feeling science-fiction setting, third-person exploration, and encounters that include dangerous AI machines. Hunt: Showdown 1896 is the stronger fit for someone who wants a distinctively atmospheric shooter where tracking and listening can decide a match before the first shot.

Before buying, check the current store listing for your platform, supported play options, system requirements, and any edition differences. Live games can change through updates, and availability or features may vary by platform and region. If you are unsure, watch current gameplay from the perspective you expect to play: a trailer may not show how much time either game spends moving, searching, or waiting for the right moment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is ARC Raiders or Hunt: Showdown 1896 better for beginners?
Neither is automatically easy. Hunt can be especially demanding if you are unfamiliar with its maps, weapon handling, and sound-based information. ARC Raiders may be more approachable if you prefer third-person action and learning through exploration, but its extraction risks and mixed threats still require caution.

Can you play ARC Raiders solo?
Check the current matchmaking and party options in the game, since live-service features can change. In general, playing alone in an extraction shooter means you must make your own decisions about objectives, fights, and when to leave rather than relying on teammates.

Is Hunt: Showdown 1896 a battle royale?
No. It is an extraction-focused PvPvE shooter: teams investigate and hunt a boss, then try to escape with the bounty. Other hunters are competing threats, but the match is not simply about being the last player or team alive.

Which game is more realistic?
Hunt: Showdown 1896 uses a historical-inspired setting and deliberate firearms, but it is also supernatural and designed as a game. ARC Raiders is overtly science fiction. “Realistic” depends on whether you mean its visual setting, weapon feel, or overall fictional premise.

Do both games have PvE?
Yes. ARC Raiders features hostile ARC machines, while Hunt includes monsters and a boss target. Both also include player-versus-player danger, so PvE does not mean you can assume other players will leave you alone.

Which should I play with friends?
Either can suit a group. Choose ARC Raiders for shared scavenging and mixed machine-and-player encounters; choose Hunt if your group enjoys coordinating a hunt, interpreting sound clues, and taking calculated risks around a high-value bounty.

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