Embark Studios recently released the Flashpoint update for ARC Raiders, the electrifying extraction title that has now been around for more than five months. The update adds new ARC threats, a couple of weapons, a new event, and some other bits and pieces, just to keep that roadmap juicy enough to retain players (kind of).
However, fans are less concerned about the new content and more enthused by the idea of Embark Studios finally fixing one of the game’s biggest problems. It’s one of the highlights of the patch, and it has fans celebrating the effort put in by Embark to listen to the community.
Late Spawns Being Cut Down
In the patch notes for the Flashpoint update, many have overlooked a tidbit from Embark Studios that’s wonderful news for fans of ARC Raiders. The game has been around for almost half a year, and while there’s plenty of road left ahead, the team is trying fairly hard to please the community to ensure the players stick with the title while said roadmap unravels.
At the top of the newly released patch notes for the latest ARC Raiders update, it reads:
Players who build their own loadout are more likely to join fresh servers.
Since ARC Raiders came out, this has been a massive point of contention for players.
When you load into a raid in ARC Raiders, you might wind up entering the map with the game timer halved. What should be a 30-minute raid might only be 15 or 20 minutes for you, and that’s a huge issue when you consider the size of some of the game’s larger maps.
It also means that you could spend time building a sweet kit just to have a slashed raid timer, coming face to face with players who have already spent up to 10 or 15 minutes in their raid, plucking the best loot out of the place. That’s before we even start talking about the lack of time to complete objectives, trials, feats, and so on…
It’s a balancing mechanic, which is something Embark explained a while ago. To keep the lobby fresh and stocked with players, Embark Studios feeds some users in later than others. It’s the same way ‘player Scav’ characters work in Escape from Tarkov, loading in late to keep the lobby feeling alive.
This latest change in ARC Raiders means that, if you spend the time and in-game money building a kit, you’ll be more likely to join a server with a full clock.
We’ve not tested this, so it’s hard to judge just how likely ‘more likely‘ is.
Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord server if you’ve noticed this change taking effect in your games.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that Stormgate is going offline
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
More from Grant Taylor-Hill
I still get in late about half the time.
PVP is the biggest issue.