In a development update from Executive Producer Aleksander Grøndal, Embark laid out a change to how ARC Raiders is updated, and previewed where the game is heading.

Why the change

ARC Raiders launched with a plan for monthly updates, meant to keep the game feeling fresh and give players reasons to keep going topside. In practice, Embark found the monthly cycle limited how impactful each update could be, and that the kind of long-term, more transformative experience they want to build isn’t compatible with running at that pace.

Major updates twice a year

Going forward, the major updates move to twice a year, each larger in scale and meant to genuinely change how you play. A dedicated live-service team keeps ARC Raiders running day to day in between: regular live updates, plus balance fixes, bug fixes, store updates, and player events all continue. The extra development room also lets the team invest more in the health of the game, from progression and economy balancing to fair play and anti-cheat.

Frozen Trail — the biggest update yet

The next major update, Frozen Trail, lands in October and is the largest since launch. Embark frames it as refining core systems rather than just stacking content on top. A taste of what’s coming:

A sprawling new frontier — the largest map in the game, with layered design and new mysteries.
Embark’s most ambitious ARC operation so far, with new ARC enemies and unique behaviors.
New systems of progression for players who have maxed their Raider Den and hit the Skill Point ceiling.
A first look at the origin of ARC — what they are and where they come from.
An improved skill tree.
New weapons, items, instruments, cosmetics, and more.

Starting next week: a new Trader

The following week brings a new late-game mechanic: a Trader from a nomadic tribe of surface-dwellers, unlocking at level 25. He takes high-value items off your hands for weekly rotating rewards — unique rewards, rare items, and cosmetics — and may sometimes ask you to find specific rare items to trade. He also offers two perks for high-value items: extra Stash space, and the Expedition Vault, which lets you carry up to five items or blueprints across an Expedition. It’s aimed at three common pain points: high-value items with no rewarding way to offload them, a Stash filling up faster than its capacity, and the Expedition feeling unrewarding or too painful to part with favorites for.

Building for the long-term

Embark calls out progression and player goals as central to ARC Raiders, and says some improvements there simply need more development time than a monthly cycle allowed. Larger updates give room to deepen progression, keep expanding how players personalize their Raider, make Trials reliably fun rather than a grind, and make the Expedition Project more rewarding and less punishing — with the first steps of that arriving soon.

The bigger picture

The bi-annual cadence is meant to let gameplay, progression, narrative, and the world move forward together with more intention. Embark frames ARC Raiders as still early in its journey, with the long-term goal being not just survival but one day reclaiming the surface. Frozen Trail begins to push toward that, and Embark says it’s only the beginning. The team acknowledges the change won’t please everyone, and that less frequent updates may be frustrating, but believes it will be worth it.