ARC Raiders' PvE verdict looms as WARDOGS' Season 2 mess drags into region-locking drama
This week's FPS wrap: Embark's 30-million-round PvE test leaves a decision hanging over November, while Bulkhead scrambles to patch WARDOGS' credibility.
The Clutch Club Monday FPS Heartbeat — 02/11/2026
Biggest story this week: the extraction-shooter world is still holding its breath on ARC Raiders. Embark wrapped its PvE matchmaking toggle test on 20 October after more than 30 million rounds of PvE were played over the testing period, and the studio's own read is blunt — "Now that we've concluded the PvE matchmaking toggle test, we're doing a deep dive into what that means". A verdict is promised this month, but nothing's locked in yet, so expect this to dominate OCE Discord debate all November.
ARC Raiders
While we wait on PvE, Embark shipped the 2.3 Live Update anyway. Players have from now until November 16 to earn rewards from the Souls Offering Event, a four-stage project with new trinkets and a Pilgrim backpack. Nice content, but it hasn't softened anyone's mood on the bigger PvE question.
WARDOGS
Bulkhead's credibility is taking hits. On top of confirming Season 3 for Thursday 12 November, the studio has now introduced region locking, reducing the maximum server ping to 175ms in an attempt to tackle widespread cheating complaints — which is exactly the ping-cap sore point AU players have been fuming about. Community's divided on whether it actually helps.
THE FINALS
Embark's other shooter is deep into its Halloween event: Prime Time's "Frights Galore" runs 20 October to 5 November, layering spooky wheel-spin rewards on top of the 12.1 balance pass. Fine seasonal filler, no real drama this week.
Battlefield 6
Two threads here. EA's been fending off an AI-cosmetics stink over a Season 5 skin, while confirming a genuinely player-requested feature: the long-awaited server browser arrives 8 December 2026, alongside Platoons and reworked maps. Also notable fallout from EA shutting down BioWare — Battlefield 6 appears to have quietly scrapped a planned Mass Effect crossover, with players saying locked cosmetics have now been removed entirely. Mixed bag of a week.
PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS
The IVE "LOVE DIVE" collab is locked in — Rondo Zone and skins land on PC 4 November, console 12 November. Reaction is the usual K-pop-crossover split: cosmetics crowd is hyped, competitive crowd rolls its eyes.
BattleBit Remastered
After 18 months of near-silence, the Operation Overhaul playtest finally went live. Early impressions are cautiously positive from the old guard, but there's real scepticism about whether the dev team can sustain momentum this time.
Out of Action
No report this week because there's barely anything to report — Steam numbers are rough, with the tracker showing a peak of only 377 concurrents against current single digits. Steam reviews still sit "Mostly Positive", but the playerbase is clearly a shadow of launch.
Bodycam
v0.9 "The Dead & Damned" is set for 13 November with a zombies fix and kernel-level anti-cheat — but the party system slipping again is wearing thin with the co-op crowd.
HELLDIVERS 2
Quiet week by design. Arrowhead's own 2026 roadmap leaves November as a quieter period unless additional announcements arrive, with the next big content drop, Major Update 8.0, pencilled for December. Divers are mostly just farming Illuminate Void content and waiting.
Delta Force
Season Aurora keeps delivering — the Halloween voucher grind is live, shield operator Martelo is getting love, and the Phantom Blade Zero crossover drops 10 November alongside the season proper. Solid week for a game that keeps quietly shipping content on schedule.
What to watch next: Thu 5 Nov AEDT (Sydney/Melb) / AEST (Brisbane): THE FINALS Frights Galore event ends. Wed 4 Nov: PUBG x IVE collab live on PC. Thu 12 Nov: WARDOGS Season 3 (target date) and PUBG x IVE on console. Tue 10 Nov: Delta Force x Phantom Blade Zero crossover. Fri 13 Nov: Bodycam v0.9. Mon 16 Nov: ARC Raiders Souls Offering event ends. Tue 8 Dec: Battlefield 6 server browser.
Sources
- Future of ARC Raiders PvE Will Be Revealed in November - Insider Gaming
- ARC Raiders Concludes PvE Test Run and Confirms Next Steps - Vice
- Arc Raiders gets spooky Souls Offering Raider Project - Gamingtrend
- Wardogs Begins Region Locking to Combat Cheaters as Season 3 Could Arrive Early - GameWatcher
- WARDOGS Season 3 Moves Up to November 12 - MilSim Units Blog
- THE FINALS Wiki - Events (Frights Galore)
- Battlefield 6: Server-Browser kommt im Dezember - xboxdynasty
- Battlefield 6 Has Reportedly Pulled Its Unreleased Mass Effect N7 Cosmetics - Gamefragger
- Electronic Arts officially shuts down BioWare and lays off 400 workers - MassivelyOP
- Helldivers 2's New 2026 Roadmap Brings Two Warbonds, a New Biome, and Major Update 8.0 in December - G2A News
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.