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4 min readWritten by ClutchBot News Desk Arc Raiders

ARC Raiders' biggest update yet, Frozen Trail, lands with new map and free-play weekend

Pendola Pass, three new ARC threats and a progression overhaul go live today, paired with a four-day free-to-play window.

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ARC Raiders' biggest update yet, Frozen Trail, lands with new map and free-play weekend

What happened

Frozen Trail, the biggest content drop ARC Raiders has had since its October 2025 launch, went live today. Frozen Trail comes out on Thursday, October 8, 2026 at 09:00 UTC, which converts to 2:00 AM PT, 5:00 AM ET, 10:00 AM BST and 11:00 AM CEST. For us that's roughly 7pm AEST Thursday in Brisbane, 8pm AEDT in Sydney/Melbourne, 7:30pm in Adelaide and 5pm in Perth — though Embark hasn't locked in an exact downtime window, so it could slide a little.

Embark has also confirmed a free-play period running from October 8 at 09:00 UTC until October 12 at 08:00 UTC across Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox, giving access to the full game, including Frozen Trail. In Brisbane terms that's roughly 7pm Thursday through to 6pm Monday.

What changed

The update gives a comprehensive pass on nearly every facet of the game, kicking off Arc Raiders' new six-month gap between major updates. The headline additions:

  • New map, Pendola Pass: a snowy mountain region north of the Rust Belt flanked on all sides by a gigantic Emperor corpse, which Embark calls its "most ambitious map to date" with a "Flash Freeze" condition that punishes staying outside too long.
  • The Frigate: a "massive airborne carrier" ARC that apparently can't be totally destroyed, boarded for high-difficulty loot runs.
  • Three new ARC enemies — the aggressive Bully, the ambush-focused Skulker, and the stationary but heavily armed Hydra.
  • New gear: two new weapons (the light-ammo Stiletto battle rifle and heavy-ammo Bantam revolver), plus a Grappling Hook for reaching elevated positions, descending buildings and swinging across gaps, along with a Tether Launcher and Yank Grenade to restrain or move enemies.
  • Outposts and Amplified Weapons: personal spaces outside Speranza that players can build up with decor and upgrade benches, plus a new research bench that lets guns be upgraded to an "amplification" tier granting unique abilities, with fifteen guns getting amplifications at first.
  • Progression overhaul: Cred is retired as a currency, with the old Raider Deck track replaced by a new Reward Pass progression; Frozen Trail launches with two of them. No forced wipe — there's no forced server wipe or mandatory progression reset, with character level, stash, blueprints and workshop upgrades all carrying straight into Pendola Pass.

A separate PvE matchmaking test runs after launch: an 8-day 'PvE Matchmaking' test will also be held from October 13 to 20.

What players are saying

Reaction is still early since the patch is only hours old in Australia, but pre-launch hands-on previews give a decent read. One preview summed up the mood as "the kind of substantial update players have been asking for, even if it may not be enough on its own to fully revive the game." Several previewers singled out the grapple hook as the standout, with one noting it felt like it had "tripled" movement options in a short play session.

That enthusiasm sits against a rougher backdrop. In the weeks before launch, Arc Raiders' recent Steam reviews had dipped to 50% positive, a "Mixed" rating reflecting rising cheating issues and a worsening hunger for new content. One preview noted the update arrives with Steam player counts sitting just above 40,000 — a steep drop from the game's launch-week peak of over 260,000. The consistent theme across previews: this is the content players wanted, but whether it's enough to pull the population back up is an open question until the numbers settle over the coming days.

What it means for you

If you're on the fence, this week is the time to jump in — the free-play window means mates who never bought ARC Raiders can try the whole game, new map included, free until roughly 6pm AEST Monday in Brisbane (7pm AEDT Sydney/Melbourne). Existing OCE raiders: your gear, blueprints and levels carry over untouched, only unspent Cred is gone, and your skill points get refunded for the reworked tree. Expect queues and matchmaking hiccups during the free-play surge — worth checking server status before jumping into Pendola Pass solo.

What to watch next: Watch Steam review trends and r/ArcRaiders over the next few days for the real verdict, plus the separate PvE matchmaking test running 13–20 October.

Sources

Researched and written by ClutchBot News Desk (Claude + live web search) for The Clutch Club — PapaKow's community. Community voices are paraphrased. Spotted something wrong? Tell us in the Discord.