The latest live update for ARC Raiders kicks off a new in-game event called Forgotten Relics alongside a new project and a long-awaited change to how free loadouts will work. For many longtime fans, free loadouts have been a thorn in the side of players as it essentially removes the risk of losing gear, allowing the user to jump in to a match at the cost of having to start with worse gear. Without any risk, some ARC Raiders players use it as an opportunity to troll others, since there’s no risk or downsides to dying.
It’s clear that ARC Raiders is starting to evolve, as Embark Studios has already announced major changes to the core experience. For many fans, the biggest announcement came when Embark confirmed ARC Raiders was moving away from its monthly release cycle. Instead, the game will be seeing two major updates per year, though Embark has confirmed that these will be significantly larger and more impactful than what players were seeing each month. The first such update is set for October called Frozen Trail, adding a “sprawling new frontier” to explore. However, in the meantime, Embark’s live team will continue to release smaller updates.
ARC Raiders Studio Officially Clarifies How Matchmaking Works
After much debate from the community, Embark Studios officially clarifies how matchmaking works in ARC Raiders, recent changes, and what it can’t do.
As part of ARC Raiders latest update, Embark Studios is finally addressing the free loadout controversy. For a limited time, Night Raid and Close Scrutiny map conditions will have the free loadout options disabled, meaning players will have to risk their own gear if they want to participate in scenarios that have better loot. Embark confirms this is just a limited test which could be expanded over time. While it may not be on the global scale that many wanted, this could be a first step for the game, as Embark is likely going to be looking very closely at feedback and player data.
In addition to the free loadout change, Embark is kicking off a new limited-time event called Forgotten Relics. Similar to previous ARC Raiders events, players will earn Merits based on the amount of XP accumulated on a run, which can then be spent on unlocking a variety of rewards. Discovering hidden relics throughout each map will also earn additional Merits, though players will need to successfully extract with it in order to claim the rewards. Progressing through the event will also unlock the Saltwalker Outfit and all Merits earned also contribute to the Converging Paths project.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)
From June 16 through to July 27, players can work through the Converging Paths project, a multiple-step quest that advances the progress of a Display Case uncovered relics. As expected, players will also earn plenty of rewards for completing each stage, including a Red-Black variant of the Saltwalker Outfit, a Sextant backpack charm, as well as ARC Raiders premium currency tokens.
Alongside the free loadout change, and potentially bigger tweaks down the road, it’s clear that Embark is looking to maintain the success of ARC Raiders as it slowly approaches its one-year anniversary later this year. While other extraction shooters continue to evolve, ARC Raiders may be testing PvE-specific content, something that many in the community have been asking for. While initially only appearing in a test version of the Chinese-specific build for ARC Raiders, many fans seem to think that new map conditions like Rebellion Incident and Double King/Queen could potentially be making their way west as well.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Easy (120s)Medium (90s)Hard (60s)
ARC Raiders Update 1.33.0 Patch Notes
Patch Highlights
- Corrected unexpected behaviors when aiming down sights that impacted aiming accuracy with some weapons.
- Players will no longer occasionally fall through the map when stepping on Fireballs and Pop parts.
- Knocked out players don’t stop Barricades from expanding after deployment.
- The Rocketeer now drops Launcher Ammo instead of Heavy Ammo.
- Ermal’s available offers now correctly display stack sizes, such as “Raider Tokens x25”.
- Announcements now play correctly when calling for extraction.
- Fixed Barricade Kits not playing audio when being dismantled.
CONTENT AND BUG FIXES
GENERAL
- Corrected unexpected behaviors when aiming down sights that impacted aiming accuracy with some weapons.
- Players will no longer occasionally fall through the map when stepping on Fireballs and Pop parts.
- Fixed an issue where quest objectives in rare cases could activate out of order, causing later steps to appear before they were intended to.
- Fixed damage tracking for expeditions so that it excludes damage done by squad members.
ANIMATION
- Fixed a case where your Raider could briefly T-pose when moving backwards right after a sprint Dodge Roll.
- Fixed an issue where long weapons could detach and appear behind the player when switching weapons after vaulting; equip and unequip animations now play correctly.
- The Sandveil outfit no longer stretches unnaturally around the neck and shoulders.
ARC
- The Rocketeer now drops Launcher Ammo instead of Heavy Ammo.
- Fixed an issue where the Firefly would sometimes drop an incendiary grenade without being destroyed.
- Queen & Matriarch can now successfully plant their feet in more varied terrain, in addition to being able to stand on moving surfaces.
AUDIO
- Announcements now play correctly when calling for extraction.
- Fixed the Barricade Kit not playing audio when being dismantled.
- Improved audio cues for Raider Caches to make them easier to find.
- Adjusted footstep volumes for standing still, walking, crouching, running, and sprinting; increased metal slide volume for clearer movement audio.
MAPS
- The player can no longer fall through the map by walking near the wall of the Pilgrim’s Peak building.
SOCIAL
- Adding friends outside of the game now updates their presence inside the game if they own it.
UI
- Ermal’s available offers now correctly display stack sizes, such as “Raider Tokens x25”.
- Added input shortcuts to the inventory action menu: Sell, Recycle, Repair (gamepad only), Salvage and Drop.
- Fixed an issue where selecting Upgrade on a weapon could open a different weapon when managing large inventories.
- Fixed an issue where the expedition damage tracker would not display a correct damage number to players once they had dealt a significant amount of damage.
- Updated the Free Loadout warning to correctly account for refilling item stacks when checking available inventory space.
- Fixed an issue where merging stacks in the stash failed to refill with overflowing items.
- The current loadout is no longer cleared when selecting Free Loadout until a round is played.
- When readied up, the Inventory screen now correctly displays the Free Loadout instead of an empty inventory.
- Fixed jitter in the health and armor bar during healing.
- Opening the console menu on PS5/Xbox while matchmaking no longer causes the matchmaking to be cancelled.
- In-game countdowns for Map Conditions will now only be visible 60 minutes before the conditions go live.
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- Dev note: Beyond this visual change, we are actively investigating improvements in Map Conditions based on your feedback, including separate schedules for different timezones for better coverage. If you’re interested in checking which Map Conditions will be live throughout the day and when, you can always check the schedule at https://arcraiders.com/map-conditions.
UTILITY
- Knocked out players don’t stop Barricade Kits from expanding after deployment.
- Fixed an issue where the healing cloud of Tactical Mk.3 Healing augment could revive DBNO players.
- Released
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October 30, 2025
- ESRB
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Teen / Violence, Blood, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
