ARC Raiders Teases 2026 Roadmap and New Maps

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Embark Studios, the team behind games like The Finals and ARC Raiders, plans to release several new maps for ARC Raiders over the next year. These maps will all be different sizes. Following the game’s October launch, a new map, Stella Montis, was quickly added in November as a free update. Now that 2026 is underway, players are excited to learn what new content Embark has planned for the rest of the year.

Despite predictions of failure – especially launching alongside major titles like Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 – ARC Raiders became a huge success last year and continues to be popular in 2026. Nexon, the company that owns Embark, reports over 12 million copies sold in the first three months, with peak concurrent players exceeding 960,000 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC earlier this month. While Embark’s first game, The Finals, was well-liked, ARC Raiders has been a much bigger hit, earning positive feedback from both players and critics. Now, fans are excited for the studio to release even more content.

ARC Raiders Will Release Multiple New Maps In 2026

As a big fan of ARC Raiders, I was excited to hear that the team is already planning a bunch of new maps! It’s only been two months since Stella Montis dropped, which was a smaller, player-vs-player focused map, but apparently we can expect multiple more maps over the next year, and they’re going to be different sizes. I read an interview with the design lead, Virgil Watkins, where he told GamesRadar that they’re aiming for a variety of map sizes to support different ways to play. He hinted that some will be smaller, while others could be even bigger than Stella Montis – which sounds awesome! They didn’t say when the next map will be released, but just knowing they’re working on more content is really encouraging.

Players familiar with the Stella Montis map in ARC Raiders know it’s a complex and often confusing area. It’s also become the main place for player-versus-player (PvP) combat. Regarding future maps, developer Watkins explained that building intricate, maze-like interiors naturally encourages PvP gameplay, and that the intended style of play heavily influences map design.

The developer explained that performance is a key factor, as each map can only handle a limited number of AI enemies and human players before the server becomes overloaded. They specifically mentioned that the initial map, Dam Battlegrounds, is already pushing the limits of what the server can handle due to its large size, detailed environments, and the high number of objects and characters within it.

Currently, Embark hasn’t revealed a full plan for ARC Raiders beyond the next year. However, now that they’ve confirmed several new maps are coming in the next 12 months, a more detailed roadmap might be coming soon. Recent rumors and leaks suggest a new “Toxic Swamp” map modifier could be released as early as next week, now that the “Cold Snap” event has finished. Players found hints within the game files pointing to a release around January 19th, but Embark hasn’t officially confirmed this yet.

The studio just launched a major update for 2026, addressing balance issues and fixing bugs. Players of ARC Raiders were especially excited about Patch 1.11.0, which finally toned down the powerful Trigger Nade – an item that won the vast majority of player-versus-player fights. Embark reduced the grenade’s effective range and slowed down how quickly it explodes. They also adjusted The Kettle, decreasing its firing speed to prevent players from using programs to fire it too rapidly.

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2026-01-16 19:04