With the highly anticipated Cold Snap update now live, developer Embark is giving ARC Raiders players the opportunity to unlock a free in-game outfit, but they’ve got to play the studio’s other popular shooter, The Finals. Unlike ARC Raiders, The Finals is completely free-to-play on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, which means there’s no reason for players not to jump in and play a few games to unlock the exclusive outfit.
The crossover between The Finals and ARC Raiders comes as the third-person extraction shooter launches its massive new content update, known as Cold Snap. It is the second major patch since ARC Raiders‘ release in October and adds a ton of new things for players to check out. The most notable of which is the new Cold Snap Map Condition, which covers the Buried City, Dam Battlegrounds, Spaceport, and Blue Gate maps in snow. However, this isn’t just an aesthetic change, as there are some new gameplay elements that fans need to be aware of. If they stay out in these freezing conditions for too long, they will start to take damage. Visibility is also limited due to the snow, and frozen ponds put players at risk of slipping.
New Steam Game is Essentially Minecraft Hits ARC Raiders Over the Head and Steals Its Loot, and It Robs Satisfactory Too
A new Steam game has strong Minecraft and Satisfactory vibes, but is also great for fans who want a more PvE-oriented experience from ARC Raiders.
Play The Finals To Get A Free ARC Raiders Skin
ARC Raiders‘ Cold Snap update went live today, December 16, with plenty of new cosmetic items for players to get their hands on. However, for those looking for a quick and easy way to get an entire outfit for free, Embark is giving fans the chance to unlock an exclusive skin by playing The Finals, its free-to-play first-person shooter that launched in 2023. Players simply need to boot up The Finals on either PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, or PC, sign in with the same Embark account that they use for ARC Raiders, and then play three matches of any game mode. Once completed, the outfit, which can be seen in the post below, will be available to use in ARC Raiders.
Embark Studios was founded in 2018 by industry veterans, many of whom were former EA and DICE employees. The studio’s CEO, Patrick Soderlund, for example, was once the CEO of Battlefield studio, DICE. Embark then revealed The Finals in 2021, a free-to-play, team-based, first-person shooter with a heavy focus on environmental destruction. It found moderate success at launch, gaining 10 million players in just two weeks. However, as time has gone on, the game’s player count appears to have declined, as parent company Nexon stated that The Finals had lower-than-expected retention and revenue following the launch of its big Season 2 update. Despite this, Embark has remained committed to its first-ever title and continued to release new content updates and support the title.
The studio then pivoted its focus to ARC Raiders, which had undergone some major changes since its inception. While the title was originally intended to be a pure PvE co-op game, similar to Helldivers 2, Embark essentially restarted development on the game, as they said the gameplay loop simply wasn’t fun. Development then shifted to turn ARC Raiders into a PvPvE extraction shooter, which pushed its release to 2025.
Restarting development and turning ARC Raiders into a PvPvE game turned out to be a massive win for Embark, as the game has been hugely successful since its release in October. Within its first few hours of launch, ARC Raiders peaked at more than 481,000 concurrent players on Steam alone. It has since held steady, largely thanks to numerous content updates within its first two months, averaging around 300,000 concurrent users on the platform at peak times. ARC Raiders has also received rave reviews from both players and critics, as many have praised the addictive gameplay loop, fun interactions with other players, and unique ARC enemies.
- Released
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October 30, 2025
- ESRB
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Teen / Violence, Blood
