Embark Studios have updated their community to announce that they are slowing down monthly updates for their extraction shooter Arc Raiders for more meaningful ones, shifting towards releasing two major updates each year.
— ARC Raiders (@ARCRaidersGame) May 13, 2026
“Going forward, we’ve made the decision to release major updates twice a year – larger in scale, more impactful, with the goal to genuinely change how you play the game. Don’t worry, a dedicated live service team will continue running ARC Raiders day-to-day: regular live updates, plus balance fixes, bug fixes, store updates, and player events aren’t going anywhere.” says Embark in their announcement.
Next Major Update is Frozen Trail, out this October
The next major update is called Frozen Trail, and will feature the game’s biggest map yet, an “ambitious Arc Operation”, new systems for progression, an improved skill tree, and new weapons, items, cosmetics, and more.
This update comes in light of the game’s recent update Riven Tides, which sadly didn’t move the needle for the community, as many were disappointed with the update despite it adding a new area and a new hovering Arc threat called the Turbine.
As you would have guessed, many are not too happy about the decision to slow things down. I find it to be a good move, though, considering that these monthly updates barely move the needle in terms of pushing me to play the game on a daily basis. The new Arcs and weapons don’t entirely spice things up for me compared to other live service games, which makes me realize that gameplay is a major pain point, as going home after an extraction doesn’t feel that satisfying anymore when loot barely feels rare or cherished as it does in other shooters. I’ll share more about that in a later post.
Despite slowing down, the game is getting updated with a new late-game trader, giving players the ability to trade unique items for rewards that rotate on a weekly basis. The trader will also offer two notable rewards in exchange for high-value items:
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Extra Stash space to help you increase your capacity.
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The Expedition Vault. This allows you to carry over up to five items across the Expedition, so you can set your new Raider up with your favorite items or blueprints.
This confuses me, as the main value of doing an Expedition for me has always been the extra stash space, as almost everything else barely feels like a reward for throwing all your stashed gear into the trash. Now that there’s an option to increase stash space without doing an Expedition, it makes the whole exercise even more questionable. The Expedition Vault, meanwhile, reads more like a move to make the option more accessible and less punishing for resetting rather than a genuine incentive.
We’ll see how this goes. Developers stepping back and taking the time to assess how players actually engage with the game, instead of just churning out content on a monthly cadence, might shift the narrative around Arc Raiders. Because right now, anything Embark does seems to irritate one section of the community, or at worst, both.
About the Author – Carlos Hernandez
Carlos Hernandez is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Too Much Gaming, where he writes about video games, reviews, and industry news. A lifelong gamer, he would do anything to experience Final Fantasy Tactics for the first time again and has a love/hate relationship with games that require hunting for new gear to improve your character.
It’s interesting to see how Embark Studios is approaching the updates for Arc Raiders. Slowing down can sometimes allow for more thoughtful content development. Looking forward to the major update in October!