ARC Raiders players test PC vs console friendliness. Console fails spectacularly
What started as a social experiment in ARC Raiders turned into a grim anthropology lesson. Two solo players decided to turn off cross-play and log every player interaction across PC and console servers. What they discovered is that console players treat kindness like a weakness and peace like an insult. The rat shooting you in the back is likely playing on a console.
“My brother on PS5 noticed from the start he gets shot a lot more when crossplay was turned off and a lot fewer friendly players, a lot less talking, and a whole lot more shooting on sight,” Monstras-Patrick says. “He felt he needed to shift his play style to be more silent and not trust anyone.”
In contrast, the PC servers were a lot friendlier, with more talking, team-ups, and even trading occasionally. The duo even managed to collate some data. With the PC player meeting 172 players, out of these, 98 wished him luck, 47 shot him on sight, 17 extracted with him, seven lied and shot him in the back, and three faked a team-up and killed him later.
While on PS5, the brother met 237 players, from whom he had 102 shooting on sight, 58 shot him in the back, 42 wished him luck, 28 faked a team up and then killed him, and seven nice ones that extracted together. So in all, 79% of interactions in the PS5 lobby were negative, while only 33% of interactions among PC players were negative.
On PC, nearly half of the players returned greetings, and some even teamed up. I have seen raids where 6-8 solo players have worked together, sharing loot and keeping one another safe. I play on PC. On console, the study shows betrayals, ambushes, and even more betrayals. Of 237 console encounters, 187 ended in bullets and regret. As one commenter put it: “Console isn’t cross-play. It’s crossfire.”
Be safe out there, Raider.