Friday, August 21st 2026
Embark Suspends Arc Raiders Expeditions for Redesign After Community Backlash
Despite the game's overwhelming success, Arc Raiders's Expeditions has always been a contentious gameplay mechanic. The challenge offers players a window to complete a challenge and reset their Raider in exchange for permanent player upgrades, like more skill points, additional loot storage, cosmetics, and buffs, but, according to a new post by Embark Studios, Expeditions will be paused after The 5th Expedition, which starts on August 21.
The 5th Expedition window will open on September 8 and close on September 29, and even with this Expedition, Embark has introduced changes to the challenge structure in order to make the character reset less tedious for players who have run more than one Expedition in the past. The studio behind Arc Raiders explains that some of the issues highlighted by player feedback "need more than incremental fixes," and call for bigger changes, which it aims to implement after an Expedition pause, which will last until "early 2027."
Embark Studios highlights tight departure windows, new player accessibility, and the reward structures as issues it hopes to address in the Expedition rework. The studio is careful to note that progress will not be lost with the Expedition pause, explaining that the Expedition pause will not affect consecutive buffs, and players who have completed all five Expeditions will unlock the Zenith Outfit. Partially completed Caravans will be reset and replaced with Ermal Vouchers "of equal value" for use on in-game items.
The full Expedition Pause announcement reads:
Source:
Embark Studios
The 5th Expedition window will open on September 8 and close on September 29, and even with this Expedition, Embark has introduced changes to the challenge structure in order to make the character reset less tedious for players who have run more than one Expedition in the past. The studio behind Arc Raiders explains that some of the issues highlighted by player feedback "need more than incremental fixes," and call for bigger changes, which it aims to implement after an Expedition pause, which will last until "early 2027."
The full Expedition Pause announcement reads:
FUTURE EXPEDITIONS
We have been carefully reviewing your feedback on Expeditions, and while we've made ongoing improvements along the way, we've come to realize that some of the issues you've raised, like the tight departure windows, the reward structure, and accessibility for new players, need more than incremental fixes. They call for bigger changes.
In order to address those concerns, we need to pause the Expeditions for a while. The fifth Expedition will be the last one until early 2027, when Expeditions will return with major improvements, tackling some of the biggest player pain points. So, if you've been on the fence about departing - now is the time! We will share more details on what those changes will look like in September.
During the pause period, any of the consecutive buffs you have earned will persist so no progress is lost. If you have completed all five Expeditions, the Zenith Outfit will be fully unlocked. Also, since Caravans will be reset, any partially completed Caravans will be replaced with Ermal Vouchers of equal value which can be used to purchase Ermal offers together with ARC Parts and firearms trade, or sold for Coin.
As always, keep the feedback coming. Let us know what you think, and we will continue to make improvements.
The ARC Raiders Team
7 Comments on Embark Suspends Arc Raiders Expeditions for Redesign After Community Backlash
I never minded expeditions until they started nerfing weapons, lowering durability so that they wouldn't last one raid before breaking.
Nerfing the fun out of the game and then making content for the sake of content. One new arc is a giant Garbage can that shoots lasers and doesn't drop loot worth killing it. So once the angry giant garbage cans come it's time to bail.
I loved arc, and almost a year later I am revolted by the thought of logging on. Good job Embark.
And then they make me fix my anvil constantly...havent played in 2mo.
They made PVE lobbies ratty and if you decide to turn to the darkside and go on a murder spree in about 3 rounds of racking in 6-10 kills you are in a 50% cheater lobby where everyone that kills you has gamebans on steam or is a sub1yr account. (which is what the cheat companies hand out when you get banned using a cheat.)
Yes to many people use the same weapon BS, easier to nerf than make comparable items\weapons.