ARC

Gameplay

The sport built for the humanoid era. Two enter as one competitor: a pilot and an avatar, in the concentric ring, made for the screen.

Classes, the ring, armour, how a match is won, and the battle HUD. Each part has a view.

Katena's benchmark games score a humanoid on six axes: Speed, Power, Precision, Stability, Endurance, and Intelligence.

Gameplay

Three weight classes

Robots compete in their own size bracket, so every match is between platforms of a similar scale.

  • Small-sized class

    <1.2 m · <40 kg

    Compact platforms tuned for agility and tight control: fast footwork, quick exchanges, and scrappy close-range play.

  • Mid-sized class

    1.2-1.5 m · 40-60 kg

    The balanced bracket: enough reach and mass for decisive strikes while staying mobile enough to run full match pace.

  • Full-sized class

    >1.5 m · 60 kg+

    Maximum scale and presence: long reach, heavy hits, and arena-filling movement define the full-sized matchup.

Three silver robots at their real relative heights, each in a boxing guard facing the viewer: a Booster K1 for the small class, a Unitree G1 for the mid class and an EngineAI T800 for the full-sized class. The frame crops their feet and plinths.
The class setNo. 01 / 07
Telepresence

One pilot, three avatars

Two enter. One competitor. A pilot drives a robot of any weight class, and the pilot's name is the name on the card. The robot mirrors the pilot's full body, so what the pilot does, the avatar does.

  • 01

    Full-body mirror

    The robot copies the pilot's whole body, tracked through a VR rig or full-body motion capture.

  • 02

    Any weight class

    The same pilot can drive a small, mid-sized or full-sized robot. Only the avatar's size changes.

  • 03

    Same direction

    Pilot and robot face the same way, so what the pilot sees lines up with what the robot does.

A robot avatar centered on the stage, with the human pilot in an inset at the upper left making the same movement
EngineAI T800Motion: CMU
The pilot and avatarsNo. 02 / 07
Armor

Standard hit-detection armor

Custom robot armor with embedded sensors that detect valid hits and calculate scoring across three distinct hit zones.

  • Head

    Critical Damage · 2×

    Direct hits to the cranial sensor array deal maximum damage. Precision targeting of the head module is rewarded with critical scoring multipliers.

  • Chest

    Damage · 1×

    Center-mass strikes to the torso plating register standard damage. The primary target zone with the widest sensor surface area.

  • Abdomen

    Damage · 1×

    Lower torso impacts score standard damage. A secondary zone that rewards varied attack angles and low-line fighting strategies.

The sensor armour, in silver, cropped above the legs so the head, chest and abdomen fill the frame.
The armored platformNo. 03 / 07
Gameplay

The concentric ARC ring

A fenced centre for the avatars and an outer ring for the pilots. They face the same way, so the pilot's movement and the avatar's movement stay one action.

  • 01

    The Central Arena

    An enclosed circular platform with a 1.5-meter radius where robotic avatars operate and compete.

  • 02

    The Pilot Ring

    A 2-meter-wide outer track surrounding the arena, giving pilots the physical space they need to move and swing.

  • 03

    Synchronized Alignment

    Pilots face the same direction as their robots, ensuring intuitive 1:1 spatial awareness during operation.

The dual-ring arena physically isolates the combat zone without breaking the pilot's spatial connection to their avatar.

A silver model of the ARC arena, seen from above, with the ARC wordmark on the platform. A flat central arena inside a twelve-post cage with two gates, and a wider pilot ring around it on the same level, with no steps. A narrow channel separates the two rings.
The arena modelNo. 04 / 07
Game rules

Format, rounds and win conditions

How a match is decided, in plain language: the clock, a fall, and what happens when time runs out.

  • Round format

    150 seconds per round, best of three per match. Match flow in software: Lobby → Ready → Fighting → Paused / Break → Match End.

  • HP depletion

    When the opponent's HP reaches 0, you win the round (checked first among end conditions).

  • Knockdown (The Fall)

    If the opponent's robot falls (IMU detects angle or acceleration beyond standing posture), that robot loses the round instantly.

  • Time up & double KO

    At 150 s, highest remaining HP wins; equal HP → draw. If both reach 0 HP at once → double KO, round draw.

A silver stopwatch set to two minutes thirty, the length of a round, with three pips on its base for best of three.
The round clockNo. 05 / 07

The Benchmark

Six metrics.One scorecard.Every humanoid.

  • SPEED

    Movement velocity · latency · reaction time

  • POWER

    Peak torque · impact force

  • PRECISION

    Strike placement · target-hit rate

  • Intelligence

    Share of match decisions under AI

  • STABILITY

    Recovery from disturbance · balance under impact

  • ENDURANCE

    Continuous operating time · uptime · durability

Broadcast

Made for the screen

Health, the pilot view and the robot view, live. Hits, falls and a lost link show on screen.

A wide silver bezel. Raised on its face are two long rails for the two HP bars, a small ring in the centre for the round clock, and two smaller rectangular frames for the pilot and robot views.
The battle frameNo. 07 / 07

Inside the ring.

Hear the next date first, or walk the format from the first class to the last hit.

Get notifiedEvents