Arc Raiders has only been out a few weeks, but players are already tearing through it. Huge chunks of the community have stacked over a million in loot and survived more than a hundred extractions. The game clearly has strong bones, but that also means people are mastering it fast.
Embark Studios has a December update planned with a snowfall condition and new quests, but looking into 2026 and beyond, Arc Raiders will need more than just a few modifiers to keep this hungry player base hooked. Here are the most exciting directions the game could grow, based on what players and writers are asking for right now.
Make Expeditions Truly Worth The Grind
Expeditions are Arc Raiders seasonal reset system. They let you wipe progress and start fresh for special advantages. In theory it is a classic prestige style mode. In practice a lot of players feel the rewards do not really match the time investment.
Right now Expeditions give bonuses that grow as you do more of them. The problem is that some rewards seem temporary. If you stop pushing Expeditions, you can lose out. You also give up all your hard earned blueprints for a run that might not feel worth it.
Players are asking for more meaningful long term progression that survives resets. Some ideas that fit the game really well include:
- Unlocking one existing blueprint permanently every time you complete an Expedition, even if it is chosen randomly
- Earning extra skill points that go beyond the usual level cap, up to a sensible limit
- True permanent account bonuses for each Expedition, just like Embark originally teased
Not everyone needs extra rewards just to keep playing. Some people are happy with bragging rights. But for a seasonal live service shooter, long term goals matter. Clearer info on what Expedition Projects actually give and what sticks between seasons would help every type of player decide if it is worth opting in.
More Toys, More Systems, More Chaos
Arc Raiders is not a fully persistent survival sandbox like DayZ, but it already creates those cool emergent moments where strangers team up under fire. The next step is to give players more verbs. More stuff you can do beyond just shoot, loot, and extract.
Here are some dream systems that would immediately deepen the sandbox.
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Arc hacking
High tier equipment that lets you hijack Arc units, disable them temporarily, or even drive them around for a short time. -
Buildable field tools
Temporary barricades, gun emplacements, radar posts, or signal boosters that help you hold a position or scout ahead. -
Ad hoc squads in solo
A way to formally party up with randoms you meet mid run so you can share objectives and rewards without backing out to the lobby. -
Handheld detectors
Gadgets that ping rare resources, hidden caches, or roaming high value Arc threats. -
Friendly Arc helpers
Converted drones or walkers that follow you, fight with you, or act as walking backpacks. -
Surveillance tools
Placeable cameras or listening devices that watch over choke points and popular extraction routes. -
Yes, even fishing
A small side system that lets you chill between high tension raids, while still feeding into crafting and economy.
On top of all that, Arc Raiders is begging for a real photography system. The game already looks incredible when players roleplay as war reporters using in game binoculars. There is even a basic questline that asks you to take pictures, although it just means standing on a marker and pressing a key.
A proper photo mode or equippable camera could turn that into its own progression track. Imagine a collection log that wants shots of specific Arc types, weather conditions, graffiti, or hidden relics. It would give explorers something to chase and create free marketing as players share their best screenshots and clips.
Of course, none of this matters if the enemies stop being scary. Right now Shredders are one of the few threats that still feel brutal for solo players. They are tanky, have nasty range, and will stalk you through the tight corridors of Stella Montis. More enemies like that would keep the tension high.
Other Arc types already have reliable counters. Duck indoors and Leapers are no problem. Use cover and a basic Anvil and even Rocketeers are manageable. Wolfpacks make short work of bosses. To keep that delicious feeling of strangers saving each other under pressure, the game needs new Arc variants that force people to react, adapt, and sometimes just run.
Evolving Maps, Bases, and Game Modes
One reason Arc Raiders caught on so fast is its maps. Each zone looks and plays differently. Dam Battlegrounds has exposed outdoor lifts for extraction. Buried City drags you into dark metro tunnels. Blue Gate is wide open and rural aside from its tunnels. The new Stella Montis map is a tight maze of labs and corridors that cranks both PvE and PvP to eleven.
Players definitely want more maps that remix this formula, but there is also a smart way to avoid map overload. Instead of endlessly adding new locations, Embark could evolve the existing ones over time.
Imagine logging in after a big update and finding that a familiar landmark has been kicked apart by a new Arc super weapon, or that a new safe route has been constructed as humanity claws back the surface. These world changes could tie into story events so the game world feels alive and reactive.
Back at home base, there is also a ton of potential. Your room in Speranza already updates with trophies and loot. Expanding that into light base building would give players a cozy hub that still fits the story of reclaiming the planet.
Blueprints and junk items you find topside could become furniture, displays, workbenches, or purely cosmetic flex pieces. Even if it functions like a glorified menu where you gear up before each run, decorating a hideout is a powerful motivation for a lot of players.
Finally, Arc Raiders is built on a brilliant extraction framework, but it is still basically one core mode. Bringing back that mid 2000s shooter energy with more formats would go a long way.
- Co op PvE campaigns on smaller maps in a Left 4 Dead style format
- Horde modes with upgrade paths and escalating Arc threats
- Objective based missions that borrow from games like Helldivers
On top of official modes, custom game tools could let the community do the wild stuff. Rust like survival variants, social deception modes where some players secretly control the Arc, or completely new rule sets built on Arc Raiders gunplay. The core mechanics are strong enough that it could become a platform, not just a single game type.
Arc Raiders has landed with a bang. To keep that momentum, it needs more ways to express yourself, more ways to suffer together, and more reasons to drop back into its beautiful, hostile world season after season.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/arc-raiders-players-are-already-impatient-for-more-content-heres-8-things-we-think-the-game-could-do-to-expand/
