ARC Raiders Dev Discusses the Possibility of High-Tier Raids

A developer at Embark Studios has revealed that the team has discussed the possibility of adding special high-tier raids to its hit extraction shooter, ARC Raiders. This comes after continued division over ARC Raiders‘ free loadouts, which much of the community believes come with no risk and the chance of very high rewards. To combat this, some have suggested the idea of a new map modifier where players must bring in some of their very best gear, but Embark says it doesn’t want to segment the player base too much.

The ARC Raiders community has thrown tons of suggestions at Embark Studios following the game’s hugely successful launch in October, and the team appears to be well aware of some of the most highly requested features. One of the many requests coming from players is for a saved loadout feature in ARC Raiders, as much of the community believes the UI takes too many clicks and leaves Raiders wasting too much time in Speranza. Thankfully, Embark says it is “super aware” of demands for such a feature and is just one of the many things the team has been discussing. Alongside saved loadouts, a developer has also revealed that Embark has toyed with the idea of high-tier raids.

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Embark Has Considered High-Tier Only Raids In ARC Raiders

During a recent interview with GamesRadar+, design lead Virgil Watkins revealed that Embark has considered adding high-tier raids to ARC Raiders. With the game’s free loadout feature dividing opinions, Watkins was asked if the studio has ever considered combating these complaints by adding a high-tier raid that would force players to bring in some of their best gear, possibly via a minimum loadout value. “Oh, for sure,” the developer told the outlet. “We’ve discussed a lot of different criteria for queuing up. And of course, there’s other examples out there, like the labs in [Escape from Tarkov] needing a special item to get in and stuff.”

Watkins goes on to explain how “for the moment,” Embark doesn’t want to segment the player base too much with such a feature. The developer says that adding high-tier raids could put players in a situation where they are unable to play with their friends because they don’t meet the requirements to go into a specific type of raid. “There’s some hesitation to put barriers between players and the content they want to play, or want to make an attempt at,” he says. The good news is that Watkins says the idea is “not something that’s off the table,” but does say the studio wants to approach the feature carefully.

Adding a high-tier raid feature could work similarly to the other map modifiers/events in the game, such as Night Raids, and would eliminate one of players’ biggest gripes with the shooter. Anybody who has spent enough hours finding the best gear and weapons in the game will know how frustrating it is to continuously lose them to those making use of ARC Raiders‘ free loadouts. It’s also equally annoying to take out back-to-back players, putting your best loot on the line each time, only for everybody to be running a free kit. The risk-to-reward ratio feels all off, and a high-tier only raid could be just what the game needs to counteract the issue.

This is just one of the many fan requests that Embark appears to be considering, but it remains a mystery as to what the studio is prioritizing right now. While the team has yet to share a 2026 roadmap for the shooter, it has confirmed that multiple new maps are coming to ARC Raiders over the next 12 months.

Embark recently released the second update of the year, which came with a handful of exploit fixes. Sadly, there’s still been no word on when fans can expect the next major content update.

Released

October 30, 2025

ESRB

Teen / Violence, Blood