A mysterious and rather gigantic UFO has been spotted in ARC Raiders following the release of this month’s new content update, Shrouded Sky. The ARC Raiders community has long expected the Emperor, an ARC much larger than the Queen or Matriarch, to be the next addition to the game. But as players now notice a huge UFO soaring through the new Hurricane Map Condition, it has much of the community questioning if a different type of threat is on the way.
On February 24, developer Embark Studios released the second of four major content updates confirmed for the first half of 2026. The first patch of the year, Headwinds, arrived in late January, bringing a controversial 1v3 matchmaking option to ARC Raiders and a new Buried City-exclusive Map Condition. Now the developer has returned with Shrouded Sky, which once again features new content for players to check out, including two deadly new ARC enemies and a Hurricane Map Condition. However, fans have already noticed that there appears to be something daunting soaring through the skies after yesterday’s update.
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ARC Raiders Player Spots Mysterious UFO
ARC Raiders‘ new Hurricane Map Condition makes heading Topside even more deadly, with limited visibility, blistering winds that affect the trajectory of throwable items and Raiders’ movement speed, and debris that constantly damages shields while outdoors. Although Embark hasn’t mentioned anything about UFOs soaring through the skies, a player recently took to the game’s subreddit with a short clip after they noticed two blue lights up in the clouds. The storm makes it difficult to see, but it looks like a large flying spaceship, leading many to believe that this is a teaser for a new ARC threat.
At first, it seems like these blue lights could be two separate ARCs, but closer inspection shows that this is more likely to be one large UFO. Given that the largest enemies in ARC Raiders right now are the Queen and Matriarch (aside from the dreaded Emperor that can be seen on the outskirts of Blue Gate), this gigantic UFO has players rightly terrified. “Is that real?!” one user exclaimed, while another called it “creepy.” Some even speculated that this could be a teaser for the highly anticipated April update, Riven Tides.
Earlier this year, Embark Studios revealed the first half of its 2026 roadmap for ARC Raiders, detailing four major content updates between January and April. With two of the four updates now live, the next will arrive in March, known as Flashpoint. The patch will once again add a new ARC threat for players to battle, but it is April’s Riven Tides update that fans are most excited for. According to the roadmap, Embark is gearing up to add a brand-new map and a new large ARC enemy in the April update. At first, many speculated that this would be the Emperor, as the massive machine has been roaming the outskirts of Blue Gate for quite a few months, but Embark has thrown a spanner into the works with what appears to be a teaser for a large flying ARC with Shrouded Sky.
While there are still a couple of months left to go until we find out what the new large ARC enemy will be, players already have their hands full with the two newest ARCs added with Shrouded Sky this week. The Firefly, which is an armored flying machine that emits a jet of flame, is already proving to be incredibly deadly, burning Raiders to a crisp. Then there’s the Comet, which is essentially a much larger version of the Pops. However, the Comet roams around outdoors, is heavily armored, and erupts with an explosion that is impossible to avoid unless you find cover.
- Released
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October 30, 2025
- ESRB
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Teen / Violence, Blood
