19 February 2026

ARC Raiders Dev Says There Are No Friendly or Aggressive Lobbies

By newsgame

An ARC Raiders developer has dispelled the common misconception that the game has friendly and aggressive lobbies, saying there is “no such thing.” Unlike other extraction shooters, such as Escape from Tarkov or the upcoming Marathon, ARC Raiders primarily uses an aggression-based matchmaking system, which many players have taken advantage of to put themselves into what they believe to be dedicated PvE lobbies. However, a developer at Embark Studios says the system is nowhere near as binary as many people think.

Unlike other shooters such as Battlefield or Call of Duty, which often operate on a skill-based or connection-based matchmaking system, ARC Raiders does things a little differently. While skill still plays a factor when pairing opponents together, Embark Studios implemented its aggression-based system shortly after launch. According to the studio’s CEO, Patrick Söderlund, players are matched based on how prone they are to either PvE or PvP. “So if your preference is to do PvE and you have less conflict with players… you’ll get more matched up,” the CEO said earlier this year. However, a fellow developer at the studio has now said that ARC Raiders‘ matchmaking isn’t as binary as people believe it to be.

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Despite previous comments from the studio and players being deadset that it’s possible to work their way into friendly lobbies, design lead Virgil Watkins has told PC Gamer that there’s “no such thing as a friendly lobby or an aggressive lobby.” The developer says the matchmaking system is still mixing everybody together, regardless of their aggression level. Watkins explains that it is “not nearly as binary as people think,” and that shooting one Raider, one time, will not automatically put you into aggressive lobbies. “That’s not at all how it works,” Watkins said. He goes on to say that it is a “series of rounds together” that will impact which type of lobbies a player is placed in.

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Although Watkins insists there’s no such thing as friendly or aggressive lobbies, with PvE and PvP enjoyers still being mixed together, there’s no denying that some ARC Raiders lobbies are friendlier than others. Watkins says this is something that surprised the team. “I think it kind of surprised us in exactly how many people [did] latch on to and are having fun with these elements of the game. So it certainly encourages us to lean more forward into giving opportunities to have friendly and fun interactions … but of course, we still need to cater to the PvP audience,” the developer tells PC Gamer.

There are pros and cons to aggression-based matchmaking, but the system does allow players to play the game the way they want to play. For those who enjoy PvE, which involves teaming up with fellow players and taking down large ARC enemies like the Queen or Matriarch, they can do just that. But those who enjoy going against their fellow man don’t have to feel bad about shooting PvE players in the back. Embark is now challenged with giving both sides of the community an equal split of the pie. The shooter’s recent Shared Watch event gave ARC Raiders players even more reason to focus on PvE, but it feels unlikely that there will soon be a dedicated PvP event.

While not every lobby may be 100% friendly, there’s no denying that players have manipulated ARC Raiders‘ aggression-based matchmaking to put themselves into more PvE-centric lobbies. Because of this, Embark’s CEO has previously said that the system will continue to be tweaked, stating that it is “not the intent of the game’s design.” He then explained how the game’s matchmaking isn’t meant to segment players or allow PvP players to sneak into PvE lobbies.

Many players have often called for Duos and Trios to have a separate matchmaking system from Solos, as it has become common knowledge among the community that teaming up with other players is a “shoot on sight” kind of situation, but not everybody wants to then go back to Solos and continue fighting other people. Whether or not Embark’s tweaks will involve such a change remains unknown.