ARC Raiders is Shifting to 2 Major Updates Yearly, “Largest Map” Yet Coming in October

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Now that Riven Tides is out – finishing Embark Studios’ planned updates for ARC Raiders – the studio is changing how often it releases new content. They’ll now focus on two big updates each year instead of monthly ones, and the next update, Frozen Trail, is coming in October.

When we released ARC Raiders, we initially planned to provide monthly updates to keep the game exciting and give players a reason to continue exploring. However, after seeing how players interacted with the game, we realized that creating the long-term experience we envision for ARC Raiders will require bigger, more significant updates.

We’ve realized that releasing updates every month puts a lot of stress on everyone involved and doesn’t allow us to make the really significant improvements we want for the game. It’s just not a pace we can maintain long-term if we want to achieve our larger goals.

Each year, we’re planning bigger and better updates that will significantly improve your gameplay experience. We’ll continue to release our usual frequent updates – including balance changes, bug fixes, events, and new items in the store – as always.

Next week, players level 25 and up will gain access to a new Trader. This Trader will offer exciting weekly rewards – like rare items, unique cosmetics, and valuable resources – in exchange for high-value items. You’ll also be able to unlock two helpful Perks: more stash space and the ability to carry up to five items – including blueprints – into Expeditions with the Expedition Vault.

I’m so excited for what’s coming later this year! The next big update, Frozen Trail, sounds incredible – it’s going to have the biggest map they’ve ever made, and apparently it’s really complex and full of secrets. They’re also adding new enemies from the ARC that will really test our skills, with totally new looks and behaviors. Plus, they’re giving us new goals to work towards even if we’ve already reached the max level, which is awesome! But the most exciting part? It sounds like we’re finally going to start learning about where the ARC came from. I can’t wait!

The Skill Tree is getting an upgrade, and we’re adding new weapons, character customizations, and musical instruments. This is just a first look – we’ll share more details soon!

Since launching ARC Raiders, it’s become clear that players need ongoing goals and a sense of progression to stay engaged. Embark Studios stated they want to create systems that give players more reasons to return to the game and will continue to develop ARC Raiders over time.

We have some great ideas for improving the game, but they require more development time than our current monthly update schedule allows. Switching to less frequent, larger updates will give us the time needed to polish the features players use most.

It’s true that live-service games need consistent updates to stay popular, and only time will tell if that will happen with ARC Raiders. However, you can’t criticize the developers for making a real effort to improve the game with significant additions.

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2026-05-14 00:12