ARC Raiders More Frequently Matches Friendlier Players Together (and Vice Versa), Confirms Embark

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Embark Studios’ popular game, ARC Raiders, has been well-received for its fun gameplay and strong sales – it was a top performer on Steam at the end of 2025. However, players especially appreciate the game’s community. Many players who prefer not to fight often found themselves teaming up with friendly players, making for surprisingly peaceful experiences. Initially, people thought this happened mostly when playing alone, but it turns out the game actually uses a matchmaking system that prioritizes pairing players based on their level of aggression.

During a gameplay session with GamesBeat’s Dean Takahashi, Embark CEO Patrick Söderlund explained that the game will try to pair players who prefer cooperative gameplay (PvE) with other friendly players, though he admitted the matching isn’t perfect. “If you like playing with others without a lot of player-versus-player conflict, the game will aim to connect you with similar players,” he said.

When a player asked about whether the game matches aggressive players with each other, Söderlund confirmed that it does. He explained that they anticipated this would be an issue, especially as the game’s popularity grew.

Matchmaking considers a few different things. Primarily, it focuses on player skill. It also takes into account whether you’re playing solo, with a partner, or in a team. More recently, we’ve added a system that also considers how much you enjoy player-versus-player combat compared to playing against the environment.

It’s pretty straightforward: if you play aggressively and attack others, you’ll likely encounter other aggressive players. Conversely, if you’re cooperative and trust others, they’ll probably return the favor.

So, Söderlund hit the nail on the head – it’s not a perfect comparison. I definitely got taken down a few times when I was playing solo! But honestly, going it alone is way riskier than playing with a group, so it’s cool they’re giving players who prefer a more cautious approach a way to still move forward in the game.

The game ARC Raiders is playable on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC. It quickly became popular, selling over four million copies in under two weeks, and recently received an update called “Cold Snap.” While the developers at Embark haven’t announced future plans, they’ve heard players’ requests for more types of ARC machines to battle.

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2026-01-04 23:41