Arc Radiers Pushes Out Biggest Update Since Its Release With "Frozen Trail" 1
Image: Embark Studios

If you have been anywhere near a video game in the past year or so, I am almost certain you have heard about Arc Raiders, the PvPvE extraction shooter that took the world by storm, seeing you taking on spider robots, explosive robots, huge explosive fire robots, flying explosive robots, rolling fire robots (you get the picture) while simultaneously watching your back for any human threats.

The game is phenomenal and absolutely deserves all the early attention it got, and right now it is better than ever. With a free weekend running from today through the 12th, plus the biggest update since launch, now really is the best time to try Arc Raiders.

The team at Embark has been gearing up to this update for a pretty long while now, and if you have been around the community, you will know that many players are hungry for new content (myself included; it's been a while, man), so I am very happy to see the developers really give it their all with this update; it really is packed with content.

This update adds a new, freezing map set in the tall mountains far from Speranza called Pendola Pass, home to fearsome Arc droids that can't wait to tear you to shreds. Along with this sub-zero environment, the "Frozen Trail" update brings three new formidable robot enemies: The Bully, a relentless menace; The Skulker, a mysterious shadow-hiding hunter; and Hydra, a 3-sectioned turret that needs careful planning and team coordination to beat.

After a long raid, take refuge in your new "raider outpost" placed between the rust belt and the snow-capped peaks topside. Customise to your heart's content, adding different modules and furniture to make it truly your place. Now, when you want to make another journey out to Pendola Pass, you might want to make good use of the new "amplified weapons" system.

In the late game, if a weapon that you know and love has become a little underpowered, simply make your way to your raider outpost and use the new research workstation to completely change the behaviour of your weapons, such as adding scopes, making certain guns fully automatic, and way more that I can't list here. I am almost surprised this feature hasn't been added yet.

Two new weapons are also being thrown into the mix: the Stiletto, an early-game counterpart to the Renegade, and the Bantam, a snub-nosed heavy revolver with a western action-film hip-fire alternate mode that will turn your enemies cold before the falling snow does.

A few new items to aid you in the steep, rocky mountains make their way to the Rust Belt, including the grappling hook, which lets you reach tricky spots, rappel off buildings, and cover large gaps in one fell swoop. Embark says this should lead to players traversing the map in totally new ways.

The new tether launcher will also have players traversing the map in new ways, but not how you would expect. Shoot tethers to trip your enemies, or even attach a tether to an Arc and a Raider to see them "traverse" away as the Arc makes a run for it. I think this addition will make for some hilarious clips.

Raider decks are also getting a revamp, with a new version called "Reward passes" rolling out this update, containing useful rewards and cosmetics, with both a "free" and "premium" version of each. Alongside this, there will be the release of a "legacy pass" that "combines all of the cosmetic rewards and Raider Tokens in Raider Decks into a single Free Pass". Don't worry, though: if you already unlocked them, they remain unlocked; this is purely for people who were unable to claim them in the previous passes.

Phew, that was a lot, right? Embark seems to be committed to making Arc Raiders the best it can be, and hearing the community and their gripes about the lack of updates, hopefully they keep this going into 2027, and if they do, I think we have a bright future ahead for Arc Raiders.