Embark Studios is introducing a new enemy, the Bully, to its free-to-play shooter Arc Raiders with the upcoming Frozen Trail update. This ground-based adversary utilizes machine learning to adapt its behavior, aiming to create unpredictable and challenging encounters for players. The Bully joins the Leaper, another enemy that employs similar machine learning principles to learn and adapt its movement and combat strategies.
During a virtual pre-briefing, Embark Studios' executive producer Aleksander Grøndal explained the studio's approach to incorporating machine learning into enemy AI. "We see machine learning as an emerging technology, which is still in its infancy to some degree," Grøndal stated. "It's still a bit of an advanced research task on our end. The interesting thing about it is that you can't control it super well. We try to teach it how to behave, and sometimes that doesn't make sense at all. Sometimes we need to update the model to fix particular issues with it."
Grøndal further elaborated that enemies incorporating machine learning are intended to fill specific archetypes within the game's roster. As the technology matures and the development team gains more insights, this approach will be further refined to deliver unique player experiences. "Machine-learning enemies are best suited to when they have legs, when they can learn to walk," he added. "We have a couple of different platforms in which we train, and the best results we've had so far are the ones that have legs we can manipulate as players, and see how they adapt to any situation; losing a leg or getting stuck, falling over or tumbling, or things like that which create those fun and dynamic moments."
The Bully is described as a stocky, relentless foe that will constantly pursue players, offering little respite. Its physics-driven nature, combined with the game's tether system introduced in the Frozen Trail update, allows players to interact with the enemy's physicality in novel ways, potentially leading to dynamic combat scenarios. The Frozen Trail update is scheduled for release on October 8th and will be available for PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X as a free update.