ARC Raiders Players Ask for Changes to Matchmaking

The ARC Raiders community is calling for developer Embark Studios to make a big change to the game’s matchmaking system, as fans believe Solo raids should not be impacted by any aggressive encounters that take place between players when in Duos or Trios. While ARC Raiders has only been available for a little over two months, it is quickly becoming apparent that Solos is a much more friendly experience than Duos or Trios, but that can all change in the blink of an eye due to the game’s aggression-based matchmaking system.

Every multiplayer title has a matchmaking system in place, whether it is skill-based, connection-based, or something completely different. However, not every studio is open about how they match players together in online games. Embark remained tight-lipped about how its matchmaking worked in ARC Raiders, leading many to speculate that it could be gear or skill-based. However, we now know it to be something much more surprising: aggression-based. This means that a user’s playstyle is the deciding factor of how they are matched with other players. If a player is aggressive towards others, they’ll be matched with others who have the same playstyle. But those who choose to engage in more PvE than PvP will find that their lobbies are much friendlier.

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ARC Raiders Players Don’t Want Trios to Affect Solo Matchmaking

This is a system that seems to have divided the community, with some loving the ability to play in relaxed lobbies without the fear of being shot, and others annoyed that the matchmaking can be “gamed” in order to get their desired lobbies. One thing a lot of players seem to agree on though is that the matchmaking in Solos should be kept completely separate from ARC Raiders‘ Duos and Trios modes. In a new post on Reddit, which has garnered nearly 8,000 upvotes at the time of writing, one individual put out a message that they hope Embark takes note of. “Your aggression in Trios should not affect your Solo queue,” the user said. They then explained how their Solo raids became much more aggressive after playing with their friends in Trios, something they believe shouldn’t happen.

Those who have played ARC Raiders will likely be well aware that Solo raids are usually much friendlier than Duos or Trios, which is why many think the matchmaking system shouldn’t take into account any aggression that occurs in the latter two modes. “Agreed. I generally play much more passive and even save fellow raiders from time to time on solos. In trios though I enjoy the PvP and the sheer amount of it is great for getting better,” a fellow player replied. Another said they think Embark should do away with aggression system all together, “I don’t believe there should be any specific matchmaking mechanic at play. It should just be 100% random every single time you load into a lobby regardless of your play style.”

While not everyone appears to be on board with the game’s aggression-based matchmaking system, it hasn’t stopped the game from becoming massively succesful. While many believed its release window, which was between Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, two of the most well-established shooters around, would result in a catastrophic failure for ARC Raiders, that proved to not be the case at all. While Battlefield 6 lost 85% of its active player base on Steam, ARC Raiders managed to maintain 91% of its daily users on the platform. Recent data from Alinea Analytics also suggests that Embark’s extraction shooter has sold 12 million copies and even peaked at more than 3.2 million dail active users on January 4.

Embark has yet to comment on whether or not it will separate the aggression-based matchmaking between Solos, Duos, and Trios, but it has given fans a sneak peek of what changes will arrive in the next ARC Raiders update. While many expected the first patch of 2026 to arrive today, it looks like it may now be next week. The good news, however, is that the studio is planning a major nerf to Trigger Nades and a fix for those who are using macros to exploit the Kettle and fire it quicker than intended.