ARC Raiders: PvE test ends after 30M rounds as Update 2.2 lands with Hydra, Turbine fixes
Embark will reveal the PvE mode's fate in November after a week-long test, while Update 2.2 ships the Wreck Set and several combat fixes.
What happened
Embark Studios has wrapped up the limited-time PvE matchmaking toggle for ARC Raiders. Embark Studios wrapped up ARC Raiders' limited-time PvE matchmaking toggle test, with the studio saying players completed more than 30 million PvE rounds during the trial. The test ran from 13–20 October, closing on October 20 at 11:00 CEST — that's 7pm AEST Brisbane, 8pm AEDT Sydney/Melbourne, 7:30pm ACDT Adelaide, 5pm AWST Perth.
The team said it now needs time to dig through the data and community feedback before deciding what comes next, describing the test as "polarizing" on a surface read and saying any decision will be based on the overall health and enjoyability of the game. A follow-up is expected sometime in November, and Embark is sending a survey to a representative sample of players starting today, 22 October. Players who took part can still leave feedback through the PvE-test-feedback channel on the official Discord.
On the same day, Update 2.2 landed. It brought the Wreck Set to the store, alongside a number of fixes.
What changed
- ARC accuracy vs sliding — certain ARC could be more accurate than intended against sliding players; their aim now correctly accounts for sliding targets.
- Hydra rebalance — the Hydra's weapons wouldn't spread to different targets as often as intended, so base damage was increased to compensate, and an issue hitting close-range targets was also fixed.
- Gondola Transceivers — ARC will now react to Gondola Transceivers being interacted with.
- Turbine spawns — ARC Turbines now spawn far more consistently in Buried City, Riven Tides, Blue Gate and Spaceport, appearing in "an overwhelming majority of, if not all" sessions where they previously only had a chance of showing.
- Stability — memory usage in Frigate interiors was reduced to address rare crashes when exploring the cargo hold.
What players are saying
Overall game sentiment is healthy: Steam reviews sit at "Very Positive" with 81% of 203,492 reviews positive, though recent reviews have dipped to "Mostly Positive" at 72% of 7,823.
The PvE debate is where things get heated. An Insider Gaming sweep of community comments found it was "extremely tough" to find genuine complaints about PvE content out of more than 1,100 comments, with the consensus clear that players want PvE to stay. One Steam reviewer wrote the mode "makes the game more enjoyable after a long hard day at work" and urged Embark to keep it going. Another, more critical review summed up the split bluntly: calling PvP "one of the most toxic PvP experiences," adding "Stay away until PvE mode is permanent."
Not everyone wants it kept, though — long-running Steam forum threads push back hard, with PvP-leaning players arguing the extraction genre needs stakes and dismissing PvE-only requests as asking for a different game entirely. r/ArcRaiders and Steam discussion boards have carried this same PvPvE-vs-PvE argument since the earliest 2025 playtests, so the November call isn't landing in a vacuum — it's the latest round of a fight that's been running for over a year.
What it means for you
If you're jumping back in on OCE servers, restart your client to grab 2.2 — the slide-accuracy and Hydra fixes change how ARC fights feel, and the four-map Turbine guarantee makes farming runs more predictable. The PvE toggle itself is gone for now, so you're back in standard PvPvE matchmaking until Embark's November announcement. If you took part in the test, watch your inbox from today for the player survey — it's your chance to actually influence the call.
What to watch next: Embark's November update on whether PvE matchmaking returns, and whether the player survey sent from 22/10 shifts the decision.
Sources
- ARC Raiders PvE Test Ends After 30 Million Rounds, November Follow-Up Planned
- Store Update 2.2.0
- ARC Raiders Update 2.2.0 (Oct 20): PvE Test Ends, Wreck Set, Hydra and ARC Turbine Changes
- ARC Raiders on Steam
- ARC Raiders Ends PvE Test After 30M Raids, Plans Due in November
- ARC Raiders PvE: I Asked 1,100+ Players What They Think About It
- ARC Raiders PvE Test Brings Back Players and Gives Squads a Reason to Return
- ARC Raiders on X (@ARCRaidersGame) — Update 2.2 announcement
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.