2 December 2025

Why an ARC Raiders Bounty System Wouldn’t Work as Well as You Think

By newsgame

The conversation surrounding PvP in ARC Raiders has been ongoing since launch, and it’s not likely to change anytime soon. As players continue to get downed by extraction campers and betrayed by those who initially claimed to be friendly, some have been begging for Embark to add a bounty (reputation/karma/notoriety) system of some kind that would identify these players. It might sound nice to those who have found ARC Raiders‘ PvP frustratingly difficult to cope with, but this bounty system would undercut the game’s strongest points.

The proposed bounty system in ARC Raiders would essentially allow players to put a bounty on other Raiders whom they believe have treated them unfairly. The idea is that the system would then notify other players in the game of the bounty, and they would be encouraged to hunt down the marked Raider for a chance at better loot and potentially even coins. There’s some variance in the discussion, of course, as some propose something like a notoriety or reputation system that marks the player in-game. A concept like that is probably best saved for a different game, though, as ARC Raiders simply isn’t the place for it. In fact, it would most likely ruin the game’s core loop and only make things worse for those who are already frustrated with its PvP.

Why a Bounty System Wouldn’t Work in ARC Raiders

It would foster a “revenge” loop in ARC Raiders that encourages PvP gameplay
It would probably require ARC Raiders to have a report system, with such systems being infamous for being misused
It would likely increase toxicity in the ARC Raiders community
The development cost of a bounty system in ARC Raiders would presumably be high

A Bounty System in ARC Raiders Would Only Encourage PvP

Interestingly enough, players who are requesting a bounty system in ARC Raiders would probably never expect it to backfire—but it most likely would. One of ARC Raiders‘ standout features is how well it balances PvE and PvP gameplay. ARCs patrol the surface, players can be encountered, and there are a plethora of ways to find loot between the two. This helps ensure ARC Raiders isn’t just a PvP game while simultaneously keeping the world grounded in its lore.

If a bounty system were implemented, there’s a high probability that it would throw off that balance, making each round more about hunting down other players than ARCs. ARC Raiders would likely become the PvP experience that those requesting a bounty system don’t seem to be fond of. Any variation of it would emphasize PvP gameplay, while possibly promoting a “revenge loop” that overtakes the PvPvE loop. At that point, ARC Raiders‘ very identity would be in jeopardy, and it would bring it that much closer to being “just another competitive shooter.”

arc raiders update 140 patch notes november 2025

A Bounty System in ARC Raiders Would Put Too Much Trust in Players to Be Objective

Bounty mechanics in ARC Raiders would presumably require a report system of some kind to be put into effect as well. Since those are infamous for being misused, it would likely lead to actual unfairness and in-game abuse, as opposed to what is arguably only a perceived unfairness. Competitive games that have a report feature make it very easy for players to “tattle” on another player who might have knocked them out, even if the kill was completely fair and well within the framework of the gameplay. In such games, there’s essentially nothing stopping one player from reporting another out of anger for being killed. This is one of the main reasons why a report-driven bounty system would only complicate things in ARC Raiders.

Fairness in a game like ARC Raiders is really only contextualized by the design and any anti-cheat initiatives it has in place. As such, there is no way for it to track when a player is treated “unfairly” beyond those boundaries without a report system. The idea is that, when a player is downed by an extraction-camping or backstabbing Raider, they could put a bounty on that player’s head. Then, should players find themselves in a round with said target, they would be alerted to the target’s presence and be encouraged to hunt them down. In the end, this would put too much trust in players to be objective when they are downed by another Raider. Not only would the boundaries of ARC Raiders‘ gameplay need to be stretched to redefine what is fair and unfair, but there’s no way of knowing when a player is being honest and objective or simply reacting emotionally.

Another way the proposed bounty system could come back to bite the players who are asking for it is by increasing toxicity within the game’s community. Almost as soon as players began falling victim to lying Raiders and extraction campers in ARC Raiders, there was a sentiment swirling around the community that those who play in that manner are “toxic”—and that sentiment is still alive today. However, ARC Raiders thrives both on the threat of the ARCs and the tension that comes from not knowing who to trust. That kind of design philosophy doesn’t inherently make a community toxic, but a bounty system would likely only encourage toxicity.

One purpose behind a bounty system would seemingly be to discourage what some players have claimed is toxic behavior in ARC Raiders, but there is a greater chance that it would only increase hostility in the community. It would single out a playstyle or two as wrong, making these players the villains. It’s one thing to deal with tense encounters or unpredictable PvP, but it’s another when the community starts using those moments as excuses to harass or target players. A bounty system risks turning what should be a normal in-game conflict in ARC Raiders into personal grudges, where players feel justified in stalking or dogpiling someone simply because the game gave them a mechanic to do it.

It Would Presumably Cost Too Much to Make Space for a Bounty System in ARC Raiders

Finally, implementing a bounty system in ARC Raiders would presumably cost far too much from a development standpoint. Embark would need to design the rules, build UI, set up back-end tracking, and then constantly tune it to prevent abuse, all for a feature that runs against ARC Raiders‘ current PvPvE philosophy. At that point, it becomes hard to argue that time and resources spent on a bounty system would be better for the game than doubling down on new ARCs, regions, events, or quality-of-life updates that serve the entire player base.

ARC Raiders Is Great Without a Bounty System

A large part of this argument comes down to how a bounty system would throw off the pace of ARC Raiders. It’s not uncommon for a game to be divisive—especially a PvPvE title—but divisiveness doesn’t always justify changes to a game’s structure or gameplay loop. Again, a bounty system might sound nice at first, but it would likely do more harm than good. Even after a month, ARC Raiders is still dominating on Steam alone, proving its popularity even without a bounty system in place. The risks of adding such a feature are just too high, and while it might be difficult for some to adjust to the PvP demands of the game, that’s probably the best route to take for now.