ARC Raiders Dev Discusses the Possibility of High-Tier Raids

by

An Embark Studios developer shared that the team is considering adding challenging, high-level raids to their popular game, ARC Raiders. This discussion arose from community debate about the game’s free loadouts, which many players feel offer high rewards without enough risk. While some suggested a new map feature requiring players to use their best equipment, Embark wants to avoid dividing the player base with such a restriction.

Since the popular launch of ARC Raiders in October, players have shared a lot of feedback with Embark Studios. The development team seems to be listening, especially regarding frequently requested features. Many players want a way to save their preferred gear setups, believing the current system is too clunky and slows them down in the Speranza hub. Embark has acknowledged this demand and says it’s under consideration, along with other improvements. The team is also exploring the possibility of adding more challenging, high-level raids.

Embark Has Considered High-Tier Only Raids In ARC Raiders

In a recent GamesRadar+ interview, Embark’s design lead, Virgil Watkins, shared that the team has talked about adding challenging, high-level raids to ARC Raiders. Given the mixed reactions to the game’s free loadout system, Watkins was asked if raids could be a way to encourage players to use their best equipment, perhaps by requiring a minimum gear value to participate. Watkins confirmed they’ve definitely explored this idea, noting they’ve considered various ways to manage who can join activities, similar to how Escape from Tarkov‘s labs require specific items for entry.

Watkins explained that Embark currently doesn’t want to divide players too much with features like high-tier raids. They’re concerned that such raids could prevent friends from playing together if some don’t meet the necessary requirements. Watkins said they’re hesitant to create barriers that stop players from accessing or trying content. However, the idea isn’t completely dismissed – the studio just wants to carefully consider how to implement it.

Introducing a challenging, high-level raid could solve a major frustration for players of this shooter, much like existing events such as Night Raids. Many dedicated players who’ve invested time in collecting top-tier gear and weapons find it discouraging to constantly lose them to opponents using the game’s free starter loadouts. It’s particularly annoying to win fights, risking valuable loot, only to face enemies who aren’t similarly invested. This creates an unbalanced risk-versus-reward system, and a raid designed specifically for well-equipped players could be the perfect solution.

Embark is looking at a lot of ideas from fans, and it’s unclear what they’re working on first. They haven’t revealed their plans for 2026, but they have confirmed that ARC Raiders will get several new maps in the next year.

So, Embark just dropped their second update of the year, and it was mostly focused on squashing some bugs and exploits, which is good! But honestly, I’m still waiting to hear anything about when the next big content drop is coming. It’s a bit frustrating not knowing when we’ll get something new to do!

Read More

2026-01-22 16:04