Embark Studios has revealed its 2025 roadmap for Arc Raiders, promising multiple additions throughout the holiday season. The game had a strong start with up to 354,836 players recorded on Steam alone, which should encourage the developer to continue its great work. I for once can’t wait to see the new maps and AI enemies.
Embark’s plans for Arc Raiders are big to say the least, as the studio aims to support the game for the next 10 years. The first batch of new features and gameplay changes has just been released, laying the groundwork for the next two months. These include ongoing quality-of-life improvements, cosmetics, feats and trails, and map conditions; followed by a new map – Stella Montis, Matriarch and Shredder – gameplay items and quests, plus a community unlock event.
In December, the game will celebrate the cold season with a snowfall map condition and the Flickering Flames event, alongside a new Raider deck and quests. The end of the year will also mark the opening of the Expedition departure window, which is a sort of ‘prestige’ mode/wipe which resets your stash upgrade progress, inventory items, blueprints, coins, player level, skill points, raider den, workshop, and quests.
Luckily, it’s a voluntary system, where those who accept its trade-offs receive rewards such as increased XP gain, extra Scrappy materials, increased weapon repairs, and more stash space, until the next Expedition departure. Understandably, many players have asked Embark to juice these prizes a bit, maybe by adding some amount of premium currency into the mix, since you lose a lot doing so.
The parts I am most excited about are the fifth map, Stella Montis, arriving this month, which appears to be a close-quarters indoor area offering fresh gameplay possibilities, plus the new arsenal, packing new weapons and gadgets to fight Arc robots and rival Raiders. Next on my list is the new weather conditions, which give each map a different feel without changing its layout.
I find this a brilliant idea to add variety to the gameplay experience without demanding too much development, I guess. For instance, the currently available night mode is great as it changes the game’s dynamic, forcing you to use your flashlight, making you more visible to rival players. Perhaps the Snowfall map condition will force us to hide inside buildings every now and then to avoid getting frostbite and losing HP permanently.
Regardless of what is being cooked, the important takeaway here is that Embark is hitting the ground running, with new stuff coming each month. This is very important to maintain a healthy player base. Without new stuff to keep players coming back, Arc Raiders could end up like Destiny 2 and its laughably 17k daily player peak on Steam.
