ARC Raiders’ Faction Culture Is Exploding, and It’s Time for Official Merch

ARC Raiders may be a PvPvE game, but that hasn’t stopped players from forming opposing factions inspired by their favorite streamers. What began as more of a loose rivalry between content creators TheBurntPeanut and HutchMF has more recently exploded into a fully-fledged faction culture, with the community even going so far as to create social identities and uniform codes that determine which players belong to the Bungulators (TheBurntPeanut) and which belong to the Bunguraiders (HutchMF). Now, with that faction culture bringing ARC Raiders‘ fashion into the spotlight, it’s time for some official merch.

ARC Raiders is already part fashion show, as the in-game store regularly adds new outfits for players to either purchase with real money or their Raider Tokens. With style playing a role in the experience, unofficial, fan-made ARC Raiders merch has naturally emerged on sites like Etsy and Displate. However, now that faction wars are a thing—likely even rising in prominence—it would make sense for Embark to move forward with official ARC Raiders merch.

The Faction War Helped Establish ARC Raiders’ Fashion Identity

Arc Raiders - accolades trailer screenshot

The faction war that has swept through ARC Raiders was never an official feature, despite plenty of requests from fans that it become one. Rather, it started with two streamers who turned a simple rivalry into a community-wide social event. This almost immediately to players forming their own uniform codes.

Faction	Skin	Color	Key Visuals and Gear Toggles
Bungulators	Striker	Red	Bag on, gas mask on, helmet on, padding on
Bunguraiders	Torpedo	Blue Show More	Helmet off, goggles on, mask off, sleeves off

Wearing a specific skin in ARC Raiders became, for some, less about style and more about showing their allegiance to their favorite content creators. In a sense, this helped bring ARC Raiders fashion into focus because, prior to the faction war, outfits were largely considered more of a bonus or optional feature. This faction war gave style a greater, more meaningful purpose for fans of the games. Now, Embark has an opportunity to bring faction culture into the spotlight with official merch players can wear to show their support in real life.

Unofficial ARC Raiders Merch Already Exists Online

At the moment, there are several places ARC Raiders fans can go to find unofficial, fan-made merch for sale. A lot of it is pretty impressive, too, and there is far more available than just T-shirts. Fans can find everything from posters to mugs and mousepads if they know where to look.

Here are a few places fans can purchase unofficial ARC Raiders merch:

Displate: Customizable ARC Raiders posters
Tee Public: Wide selection of ARC Raiders shirts
Etsy: Various ARC Raiders items—including shirts, keychains, jackets, mousepads, mugs, and more

What Official ARC Raiders Merch Could Look Like

When considering what Embark could do with official ARC Raiders merch, the possibilities seem endless, but there are a few things it could focus on to really bring the game’s identity to the forefront in style. Various clothing items with the ARC Raiders logo or key art feel like a given. Gaming peripherals like mousepads, headsets, and controllers also seem like an eventual possibility, all potentially through brand partnerships with companies like Logitech, Razer, Steelseries, and HyperX.

However, Embark could really take things up a notch by having more substantial merch available to players, like real-life versions of the most popular skins in ARC Raiders in their entirety. Being able to purchase full outfits like the game’s iconic Ryder skin would be a great way for players to show their love for the extraction shooter at gaming conventions or out in public otherwise. And that could just be the tip of the iceberg, as ARC Raiders could make it possible for players to purchase official faction-specific sets like the Bungulator and Bunguraider uniforms.

There could even be an official merch store set up like ARC Raiders‘ customization screen, where players could not only choose which outfits they were interested in purchasing but also customize the look of said outfit right there. They could choose which color they’d like, as well as whether they’d want certain accessories like an outfit’s helmet or jacket. Right now, it just seems like too big an opportunity to pass up for Embark and ARC Raiders fans alike. It would undoubtedly be the best way for the game to meet its players where they already are.