Arc Raiders started life as a PvE co-op raid game, pivoted to hardcore PvPvE extraction, and then found out a huge chunk of its players would rather not shoot each other. Embark Studios is now going to test the obvious answer.
In a September 24 post from executive producer Aleks, Embark announced a PvE matchmaking toggle test running October 13 to 20, 2026. During that week, players can switch between standard PvPvE and a PvE mode with zero player-to-player damage. Solos, duos and trios all share PvE sessions. Your PvPvE matchmaking rating won’t be affected, and when the test ends, the toggle goes away.
The data behind the decision is the interesting part. Embark says its population splits into 37% friendly co-op players, a group that has grown consistently since launch, alongside 27% mixed players and 34% pure PvP players. Over 70% of friendly players and even 40% of PvP players want fewer hostile encounters. 51% of surveyed players expressed interest in a dedicated PvE option. Embark also acknowledges frustration with ratting and camping.
PvE sessions come with changes. Overall loot value is lowered to offset the safety. Downed players who crawl can be re-targeted by ARC, while those who stay still are ignored, to keep some tension alive. Night Raids, Hidden Bunker, Locked Gate and Frigate conditions are excluded from the test. To protect the economy, PvPvE sessions get slightly higher baseline loot during the test week. Embark warns that queue times could rise in low-population regions or off hours.
Embark is careful to lower expectations. Its words: “It’s possible that this will not work,” and the test “is not a promise that there will be a PvE mode in the future.” Any permanent version could look very different. The test lands shortly after the Frozen Trail update on October 8.
It’s also not the first time Embark has reworked who meets whom Topside. In July it shipped the matchmaking fix players had been begging for.
Part of what made the Rust Belt tense is never knowing whether the raider around the corner is friendly, and splitting the population can drain that. Still, a lower-loot, opt-in PvE lane seems like a smart way to keep a third of your players from churning out. Watch the queue times in that second week.
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