ARC Raiders Freezes Expeditions Until 2027—Big Changes Incoming
Five tries, five waves of backlash. The Expeditions in ARC Raiders never convinced players to wipe their progress for rewards that just didn’t cut it. Now, Embark is finally facing the music.
The fifth and final Expedition, running from September 8 to 29, will kick off a long hiatus for the game’s voluntary wipe system. With the game struggling to hold its audience against fierce competition, Embark is making a bold call: put a core endgame pillar on ice instead of patching a system the community never embraced.
Image credit: Embark Studios
A prestige system the community rejected from day one
On paper, Expeditions sound simple: you wipe your Raider’s progress—inventory gone, character reset to level one—in exchange for permanent perks like extra skill points or more storage. It’s a classic prestige mechanic for extraction shooters, meant to give hardcore players a reason to start the grind all over again. But from the very first Expedition, it just never clicked.
With each of the five iterations, complaints piled up. The launch windows were too short, forcing players to schedule wipes on a tight calendar. The rewards never felt worth the sacrifice. Worse, Embark would drop new content right before an Expedition window opened, leaving players with a ridiculous choice: enjoy the new stuff, or wipe it all for prestige with questionable benefits. Even with analysts praising its business model, this endgame pillar never found its audience.
Accessibility for new players was another sore spot. How do you convince a newcomer to grind for dozens of hours just to unlock a system that then wipes all their progress? The criticism only got louder with each Expedition, and no tweaks ever managed to turn the tide.
Embark admits defeat and promises months of rework
In its latest blog post, Embark isn’t sugarcoating things anymore. The Swedish studio says it has “carefully reviewed player feedback on Expeditions” and admits that incremental fixes just aren’t enough. “Some of the issues you’ve raised, like tight launch windows, reward structure, and accessibility for new players, need more than just patches. They call for major changes,” the studio writes.
The fifth Expedition, running from September 8 to 29, will be a last hurrah before a long hibernation. Players get three weeks to prep their Caravan and wipe—if they want. Good news for this final round: quests won’t be auto-reset when you start an Expedition. It’s a welcome change, even if it’s coming in at the buzzer. The Hullcracker Blueprint, previously locked behind a questline, will now be available through other means.
Embark has planned out the transition. All Expedition bonuses you’ve already earned will stay active during the pause. Partially completed Caravans will be converted into Ermal Vouchers of equal value, which you can use to buy Ermal offers, ARC parts, or weapons. The studio wants to make sure its most loyal players don’t feel burned by this decision.
Frozen Trail lands in October with no Expedition: a risky gamble
The Frozen Trail update, dropping October 8, will be the first major ARC Raiders patch to launch without an Expedition. Ironically, this finally solves the timing headache that’s plagued the game for months: players can actually enjoy new content without having to pick between exploring and wiping. But it leaves a new void—an endgame loop missing its prestige mechanic for at least six months.
The big question: how do you keep hardcore players hooked? What’s left to chase for those who’ve already seen and farmed everything, with no reason to start over? Embark is betting on other development angles to keep players engaged, and the studio is also testing new game modes, but the window of opportunity is shrinking. Recent Steam reviews have hit 50% negative—a glaring red flag in a cutthroat genre where new rivals pop up all the time.
- No prestige system for at least six months
- Recent Steam reviews at 50% negative—a fractured community
- Frozen Trail is the only major update carrying the game this fall
- Promises of “long-term pursuits” in Frozen Trail, but details are still vague
Embark is rolling the dice with Frozen Trail. If October’s update delivers endgame goals strong enough to make up for the lack of Expeditions, the studio will have proven it can pivot under pressure. If not, this winter could be ARC Raiders’ last shot at reigniting the spark from its early access days.
ARC Raiders, PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
