Video game publishers are starting to use “anti-DEI” as a marketing meme

Lords Of The Fallen publishers play up their anti-woke bonafides

Image credit:CI Games

Last week, CI Games, publishers of Sniper: Ghost Warrior and Lords of the Fallen , declared to investors and social media followers that they would be avoiding “DEI”, both in terms of their hiring practices and, more ambiguously, in terms of the “social or political” content of their games. It’s a good opportunity to rebut some of the arguments against DEI, while exploring what “DEI” has come to mean to people who play video games - and to the people who sell them.

Image credit:CI Games

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion practices are embraced by many organisations, and can take many forms. Discrimination is, after all, pretty diverse. DEI training might include helping white managers understand how racism informs reactions to a Black job applicant, or helping cisgender male managers understand how sexism shapes the distribution of pay rises, or teaching the company at large to recognise the communication needs of autistic employees.

Many rightwing talking heads maintain that such interventions are unnecessary and, indeed, oppressive, because they feel that the discrimination at stake doesn’t really exist. So let’s bundle in some supporting statistics: according to a European Economic Review paper from 2023 that considers the results of several studies from 2005 to 2020, older people, people from minority ethnicities, and disabled people all face significantly more discrimination during hiring than younger white Europeans and North Americans without disabilities. According to a European Commission report from December 2024, women in the EU also earn on average 13% less than their male counterparts. The UK’s office of national statistics, meanwhile, have found that as of 2022, Black, African, Caribbean or Black British employees earned £13.53 median gross hourly pay for every £14.35 earned by white employees.

The concept of DEI today doesn’t, however, just cover what happens at work. Within many reactionary online circles, “DEI” has evolved, like “woke”, into a catch-all signifier for a caboodle of left-wing or progressive positions across society and culture, from recent trans rights advocacy to older feminist arguments about positive representation in art. There’s a lively community of rightwing journalists, streamers, and assorted grifters who bond over and profit from the exercise of combing video games for signs of “DEI infestation”. For instance, a “cybernetic bondage” outfit in Stellar Blade being patched to include a modest undershirt. Or the discovery that Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 , often framed as a nostalgic fantasy about an all-white 15th century Bohemia, includes at least one person of colour with a Quranic name .

He associates it with “social or political agendas” at the level of story theme and character, and nebulously claims that games that “embed” such agendas may “underperform commercially”, citing certain unnamed “high profile releases” from the past year or so. “Our games will always be developed to maximise player enjoyment and commercial success, and as such, we will not be integrating any social or political agencies into these experiences going forward having observed the high risk this can present,” Hill concludes.

CEO Marek Tyminski was present during the investor call, and later chimed in on Xitter to echo Hill’s points and spread the word to CI Games’s audience of (in Hill’s phrase) “core and adjacent” players. In that tweet, he gives a clunky #shoutout to 2023’s Lords Of The Fallen - a huge success for CI that has been savaged for its extensive launch bugs , and which is now being positioned for a “2.0” redemption. In confirmation that “anti-DEI” is now a CI Games PR campaign, Tyminski is also now openly toying with updating Lord Of The Fallen’s character model labelling to suit transphobic, “anti-woke” ideas about gender.

All of which betrays an elementary or perhaps, wilful misunderstanding of what DEI is supposed to achieve. Central to the case for DEI training is that discrimination can be intangible unless it’s aimed at you. As such, hiring or working strategies that try to reward the “best candidate” without reflection risk shoring up the systemic advantages that make it easier for some applicants to succeed. Tyminski’s promise to hire based “solely on talent and merit”, for example, overlooks that “talent” and “merit” are concepts cultivated by humans whose sense of fairness is shaped by their circumstances.

This isn’t to say these words are meaningless, but they are not self-evident truths that materialise from nowhere. They have tricky histories of usage which help determine who they’re applied to: anglophone writers, to pick an example close to home, may be more likely to meet standards for “good English” if they have a particular manner and vocabulary born of a particular background. “It is good sense to appoint individual people to jobs on their merit,” wrote Alan Fox, the sociologist who coined the ( once-pejorative ) term “meritocracy”, in 2001. “It is the opposite when those who are judged to have merit of a particular kind harden into a new social class without room in it for others.”

As for avoiding games that have “social or political agendas” - it’s obvious that Hill has specific agendas in mind. CI Games clearly do not have a problem with the “social or political” in general or they would not be publishing the Sniper: Ghost Warrior games - a celebration of extra-judicial “spec op” interventionalism set predominantly in Middle Eastern or post-Soviet countries, which let you treat “unstable” regions as a firing range, and live the superpower fantasy of being “world policeman”.

These hawkish daydreams lend themselves easily, even inadvertently to active prejudice. Back in 2021, CI were obliged to apologise after throwing a preview event in which journalists were invited to shoot at people dressed as Arab stereotypes . In their apology, CI Games claim they weren’t “directly” involved in the event and that as such, “certain decisions were overlooked”. A DEI consultant might have helped them spot all that in advance.

Image credit:Underdog Studio

Just look at Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 - “the biggest Call Of Duty ever”, according to its creators , despite being the first Call Of Duty to feature a non-binary character, whose voice actor has had to deal with transphobic harassment . God Of War: Ragnarök, meanwhile, is a flawed deconstruction of patriarchy that features input from the narrative consultancy Sweet Baby Inc - a popular boogeyman for the DEI Detectors - and has still managed to sell tens of millions of copies. Fortnite hosts an annual pride event, amongst other “woke” initiatives, and remains one of the most-played games in history. As explored in a recent piece from The Gamer, From Software’s fables engage in complex, searching ways with constructions of gender that go beyond any essentialist male/female framing. Nobody is calling the Dark Souls series or Elden Ring a flop.

The less exciting reality here, again, is that CI Games are trying to rustle up some social media hullabaloo for the much-patched Lords Of The Fallen. Asked about CI’s 2025 business plans in the investor call, senior vice-president of development Tom O’Connor summed it up as “maximising sales of Lords of the Fallen 2023 in line with strategic markdowns and the continued release of meaningful updates up to v2.0 in response to player feedback and external user testing”. Naturally, all of this paves the way for the announcement of another Lords Of The Fallen game, which is slated to launch in 2026.

Perhaps baiting the DEI Detectors will work out for CI Games in the short term. I’m not so naive as to suggest that there isn’t a market for games that cater to transphobes. Still, I’m keen to know what CI’s staff make of the CEO flirting with bigots on Xitter, given that a sizeable number of rank-and-file developers are in favour of existing “diversity” initiatives and would like their employers to go further.

If there’s a broad lesson here, I reckon it’s that otherwise worthwhile practices are easily appropriated and turned into ciphers, which can then be used to sell products both by endorsing them and decrying them. “DEI” in its current guise risks being stripped of its material history and reduced to ammo in an online culture war. While the DEI Detectors have played an outsized role, this is arguably a practice begun by certain self-described progressive corporations for whom being pro-DEI is also a marketing strategy.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/CI Games

Notwithstanding the continuing need for better understanding of wider inequalities, DEI is an industry governed by familiar tensions between capitalist incentives and social responsibility. Bridget Read wrote an overview of DEI in the USA for The Cut in 2021 , based on interviews with several practitioners following the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer in 2020. It’s a useful cross-section of what Read calls “a loose federation of adherents, with a host of methodologies, competing for money and attention” in a market where the value of DEI programmes depends fundamentally on the seriousness of the client.

For some corporations, Read argues, DEI programmes are just a question of optics and a way of lowering the risk of lawsuits - much the same thinking that reportedly informs this year’s shift away from DEI. “Many corporate clients, of course, don’t really want to change,” she sums up. “They just want to look as if they are changing.”

It isn’t hard to find parallels within the games industry. Activision-Blizzard and Riot Games, for example, have recently weathered hundred-million-dollar lawsuits over the cultivation of discriminatory workplaces. Both have bolstered their DEI investments in response. As far as I’m concerned, the jury’s still out on how much of that is change, or the appearance of such, and I’m… interested to see what happens, now that Trump is back in power. When it comes to challenging the reactionary memeification of “DEI”, there’s surely no better tactic than ensuring you walk the talk.

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Lords of the Fallen

Android , iOS , PS4 , Xbox One , PC

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Sniper: Ghost Warrior

iOS , PS3 , Xbox 360 , PC

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

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ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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