ARC Raiders is Being Review Bombed

ARC Raiders developer Embark Studios pushed the Riven Tides update and event live on April 28, and in just a couple of days, players have begun to review bomb the extraction shooter game on Steam. The result is an increasing number of negative reviews that have already impacted its overall review rating on the platform.

ARC Raiders‘ Riven Tides Update is obviously not being received as well as Embark Studios hoped, especially since it was the grand finale of the Escalation roadmap. Alongside some weapon/balance changes and minor tweaks, the update added a new coastal map, the Arc Turbine, the beachcombing map condition, a new tool, new items, new blueprints, an expedition rework, and the treasure hunting mechanic. All in all, it sounds good on paper, but it obviously suffered once it was in the hands of players.

ARC Raiders’ New Riven Tides Update Has Broken Crossplay

April’s massively anticipated Riven Tides update for ARC Raiders breaks crossplay for all players, but there is a temporary fix.

ARC Raiders Reviews Are Dropping

As first reported by Insider Gaming, ARC Raiders reviews have dropped to “Mixed” on Steam, with only 65% of recent previews being positive. That number could continue to go down over the next few days, especially because negative reviews are outpacing positive ones by almost double (per Insider Gaming). The influx of negative reviews can be traced back to Riven Tides’ release date, accompanied by plenty of negative feedback from the fanbase. That said, the reviews are also coming from a relatively weaker player base around ARC Raiders to begin with.

ARC Raiders player count on Steam is still considerably down from the heights of its 2025 release period, although it’s still much higher than most games. While Riven Tides brought with it a minor spike, it was rendered null on the same day as the release. Many ARC Raiders players didn’t stick with Riven Tides through the week, with weekend numbers continuing this trend. It’s worth noting that ARC Raiders‘ Last Resort event, which launched alongside Riven Tides, is still ongoing through May 25, yet if no one stuck with it through the first week, it’s unlikely they will return later in the month.

As with all player count information a la Steam, there’s plenty left to the imagination, but it’s typically treated as a sound indicator. For example, Apex Legends recently hit higher player counts on Steam, which can easily be extrapolated to consoles. The latest relaunch of Overwatch also saw player counts spike. It’s unknown, however, if the battle royale game and hero shooter seeing new spikes in players has affected games like ARC Raiders at all.

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While the Riven Tides content is no doubt one reason for the recent lag in player sentiment, competition in the wider multiplayer space may be a factor. Bungie’s extraction shooter Marathon was recently released, for example, and while that cannot account for every lost player, recent spikes in other multiplayer genres, new releases, and lackluster content updates certainly can. Still, ARC Raiders‘ overall review rating on Steam remains Very Positive, and the title has garnered plenty of goodwill since launch. It’ll be interesting to see how it recovers and how the ongoing review bombing ultimately resolves.