Embark to test PvE-only toggle Oct 13-20, splitting ARC Raiders community reaction
A one-week beta lets players opt out of PvP entirely, but the community is divided over whether that guts the game's core tension.
What happened
Embark Studios confirmed on 24 September that ARC Raiders will run a one-week PvE Matchmaking Toggle beta test from October 13-20. The test will run from October 13-20, 2026, giving players the option to choose between the classic ARC Raiders PvPvE experience or a PvE experience focused on co-op gameplay with other Raiders versus the ARC threat. It lands the week after the Frozen Trail content update drops.
What changed
- The toggle itself: During the test, players will be able to toggle between the classic ARC Raiders PvPvE experience and the PvE experience. In the PvE experience there will be zero player-to-player damage, and the session is purely focused on the ARC threat and co-op social dynamics. PvE sessions will include Solos, Duos and Trios in the same session, and switching is meant to be seamless between modes.
- Why now: Embark's own numbers show 37% Friendly co-op players (this player group has grown consistently since launch), 27% Mixed players, 34% Pure PvP players (this player group has remained stable since launch). Over 70% of Friendly players and even 40% of PvP players express a desire for fewer hostile encounters and 51% of the surveyed playerbase has expressed an interest in a dedicated PvE option.
- What's excluded: Some major conditions, Night Raids, Hidden Bunker, Locked Gate and Frigate will be excluded from the PvE matchmaking test. These are designed with higher tension in mind and rely on the uncertainty of encountering a variety of players.
- Loot and economy: The overall loot value is lowered to compensate for the relative safety of PvE, and to account for this during the test, PvPvE sessions will have slightly higher baseline loot values. Downed players also aren't fully safe — if you are downed by ARC's, be a bit careful when crawling, they might re-acquire you as a target even when you are moving when downed. They will ignore you if you stay still.
- It's temporary: this is, at least initially, a limited test. When the test ends, the toggle will be removed and matchmaking will return to normal. Embark says explicitly this is not a promise that there will be a PvE mode in the future, just an indication they're considering it.
What players are saying
Reaction is genuinely split. On a ResetEra thread discussing the announcement, one poster called it a "terrible idea," arguing that removing player tension turns the game into "just a robot parts farming simulator" since the whole point of Arc Raiders is the tension between players. Others in the same thread welcomed it outright, with one saying the toggle is "a huge plus for me and my friends." A separate commenter worried the split could push "regular" matchmaking toward being much more heavily mixed and harder for PvE players to get gear tied to high-tension conditions.
Steam's general discussions board shows this has been simmering for a while — long-running threads like "This game NEEDS a Solo or Offline, PVE mode" sit alongside pushback threads titled "PvE only players just don't get it" and comparisons to Helldivers' co-op formula, suggesting the community was already split before the announcement landed. GosuGamers also pointed to earlier reporting that players were teaming up against ARC, sharing supplies with strangers, and using proximity chat to negotiate peaceful encounters, which Embark cited as part of its rationale.
What it means for you
If you're OCE and mostly solo, this is a one-week window (Oct 13-20) to try scavenging and questing without getting third-partied — but Embark has flagged that in low population regions or during off hours, there might be a small increase in matchmaking times, so expect queues to be a bit longer than usual on our servers. Nothing here is permanent yet: play it, form an opinion, and drop feedback in Discord/Steam because your feedback and data will help to shape the future of this system.
What to watch next: Beta test runs October 13-20, 2026 (the week after the Frozen Trail update); Embark says it'll share findings and next steps sometime after the test closes.
Sources
- We're testing a PvE Toggle: here's what it means for you — ARC Raiders official
- Arc Raiders is finally testing a PvE-only mode — PC Gamer
- Arc Raiders running PvE Toggle beta test from October 13-20 — ResetEra
- ARC Raiders is testing a PvE mode after half its players asked for one — GosuGamers
- ARC Raiders General Discussions — Steam Community
- ARC Raiders will test a PvE toggle in October — Shacknews
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.