Could PUBG: Black Budget challenge Arc Raiders’ dominance?

Krafton’s in-development PUBG: Black Budget spent a lot of 2025 shrouded in mystery. Apart from a mention on a Q1 earnings call, very little was known about the extraction shooter. However, details have started to emerge, mostly thanks to a more fleshed-out Steam page and the confirmation of a closed alpha test. 

But as the future extraction shooter takes shape, all eyes will naturally fall on the competition. Yes, Escape From Tarkov, Hunt: Showdown, and others are all established, but one title stands tallest right now: Arc Raiders. That’s the game to shoot for, so could Black Budget compete with Embark’s excellent title?

The immediate point of comparison between Black Budget and Arc Raiders will be gameplay. To this point, we have little idea how much Black Budget will engage players. All eyes are on the PUBG: Black Budget closed alpha for crucial answers, and the most important one is, “Can it offer a hugely compelling, tense, and enjoyable gameplay loop?”

It’s safe to say that Arc Raiders has struck gold in this area, at least so far. Turning the title’s original PvE focus to PvPvE proved a master stroke, even though some players will always want a PvE-only mode. And PUBG: Black Budget gameplay will take a similar path. The Steam page confirms that PvPvE threats are in place, which sounds encouraging. 

Whether you easily accept being KOSed (killed on sight) by other players or not, such a persistent threat adds tension and variety in gaming. It can really enliven a well-developed game world that already has its own dangers, but which may become tired or predictable. But even beyond PvEvP, the indications are that Black Budget has some intriguing ideas.

For example, while Arc Raiders opts for a third-person, retro-futuristic adventure, Black Budget will be a FPP-first (first-person perspective first) tactical shooter, set in a time loop, with supernatural phenomena. This may check the box for the familiar-but-different element Arc Raiders delivers, particularly if done well, but gameplay is only one element of success.

While Arc Raiders’ commitment to a third-person perspective has won over millions of gamers, Krafton’s FPP-first, time-looped approach will surely want both PC and console success. Arc Raiders is a cultural phenomenon. However, part of the reason it’s a cultural phenomenon is its availability across key gaming platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PS5. 

Black Budget may offer a brilliant gameplay experience with plentiful loot, excellent PvP, and dashes to extraction points. Yet, at the time of writing, there is no confirmed info for a PUBG: Black Budget console version. The closed alpha test is apparently only for PC, and there is no sign of a PlayStation or Microsoft Store page. Perhaps it’s too early for that.

Hopefully. Krafton’s hugely popular PUBG: Battlegrounds is available on PC, Xbox One, X/S, PS4, and PS5, so a sensible assumption is that Black Budget will at least land on current-gen consoles. But it is only an assumption. We’re so early in development that not even a PUBG: Black Budget trailer exists; there is not even a video announcement to offer any clues.

Still, for Black Budget to reach the heights of Arc Raiders, a cross-platform launch and integrated crossplay must be a requirement. Arc Raiders has set a standard we’re sure others will want to follow. It also makes sense that Black Budget adopts platforms that Krafton already supports. With that in mind, we’re all ears for a confirmation. 

Whatever Krafton’s plans across platforms, though, the idiom that it’s better to be lucky than smart can be a major factor for success. When Embark Studios expressed that Arc Raiders’ success was beyond imagination, luck was a factor. Clearly, Embark’s title is a fantastic game, but its success is also down to the market it arrived in and what gamers made of it.

When gamers flocked to Arc Raiders, it offered something different but eminently enjoyable, even though it arrived between the threats of BF6 and Black Ops 7. A combination of player freedom and unique gameplay ideas has helped Arc Raiders, but you can’t plan success.

Black Budget may have to compete with Arc Raiders, but gamers will decide what’s fun.

Black Budget may not feel different enough from other extraction titles right now. But who knows what can happen? The market may want a tactical FPS extraction game with a twist in the future. If it offers players freedom in a compelling and tense enough world, it may appeal to many players, especially if Arc Raiders has peaked.

What PUBG: Black Budget may not do is reinvent FPS extraction shooters, but Arc Raiders didn’t reinvent third-person gaming. It doubled down on PvPvE freedom, with a large dose of world-building across core platforms. Black Budget could do the same, and if it does, we may have a real challenger to the type of dominance Arc Raiders is currently experiencing. 

Whatever happens, any future PUBG: Black Budget release date will be an interesting time for extraction shooters and the wider gaming market. While Arc Raiders has blown expectations out of the water to become a standout extraction title, it’s done so in a way that will surely inspire other studios and publishers to find their own success.

As a first-person-first tactical extraction shooter in a world that isn’t quite as it seems, Black Budget may be the title to follow suit. If its paranormal-tinged PvPvE gameplay can engage and a cross-platform launch is planned, we may well see a future where it challenges Arc Raiders’ impressive success. That’s assuming Arc Raiders can maintain its own trajectory.