In the wake of a recent ARC Raiders adjustment, design director Virgil Watkins discusses the approach Embark Studios uses to balance weapons and the cost-benefit ratio with their rarity levels. Since its launch, ARC Raiders has continued to be a hugely popular game and managed to retain the majority of its players over the holiday season. Because as beloved as the game is, it's certainly not perfect, even if Embark continues to chip away at the various issues affecting the core experience.
Even among all the cheating issues currently plaguing the game, player discussion has also centered around the latest update 1.11.0 for ARC Raiders. The first update of 2026 was minor in nature, but two changes in particular have already had a big impact on the game, being a big nerf to the popular Trigger 'Nade, which reduces damage the further away the target is from the center, while slightly increasing the detonation time. The other big change was the Kettle's rate of fire, as some players could use macros to allow it to fire much faster than normal and cause problems in the lobby.
This ARC Raiders concept would solve some of the players' biggest gripes
A dedicated ARC Raiders player has designed a concept that Embark Studios might want to take a look at, as it would solve some of players' biggest concerns.
How ARC Raiders approaches weapon balancing
Over the past few months, players have had strong opinions about various weapons in the ARC Raidersprompting Embark to announce that it is looking into further adjustments, although nothing is set at this time. While many weapons feel better when they are upgraded or have mods applied, many people simply rely on more common options like the Stitcher, thanks to it being a much cheaper and easier to use option compared to things like the Venator or Bobcat. When players are constantly at risk of losing their loot at the hands of an ARC enemy or enemy player, it makes sense to use these cheaper and easier to get hold of.
However, that doesn't seem to be the intention of Embark Studios, as design director Virgil Watkins indicated in a recent interview that the original intention of the game was to ensure that everyone ARC Raiders weapons in capable hands can win a fight, even what many consider to be the worst in the game. That said, Watkins admits it ARC Raiders is just not there yet and is “definitely a bit worse on some of the cost/benefit ratio, really on the [higher-tier] weapons.” As it stands, the game gives an edge, even if only a small one, to players using better gear, which Watkins said is something they don't want, saying, “Cost shouldn't fill a skill gap or a tactical awareness gap or things like that.”
But I think we're definitely a little off on some of the cost/benefit ratio, certainly on these [higher-tier] arms. It was trying to follow a curve, by spending more and more money, you get an edge. Not an obvious one, like, I'm using a purple weapon, therefore I'm winning this fight, period. We don't want that.
Watkins gave a brief insight into the studio's future plans for how to manage this balance. Currently, Embark is looking at making the cost-benefit ratio feel better, especially with some of the advanced ARC Raiders weapons such as Venator. Ultimately, the goal is to maintain the sense of excitement when a player finds a rare weapon, and if that doesn't happen, Embark will keep tweaking things until it's right.
Finally, Watkins confirmed that the studio is definitely open to major changes to weapons, hinting that some weapons could change rarity levels or even have their manufacturing and upgrading costs adjusted, potentially making them a bit more affordable. Again, nothing was confirmed, but as a hypothetical situation, if a certain weapon performs well to what is expected, it could potentially be moved up or down and another weapon could eventually fill the niche. Watkins confirmed that Embark isn't set on where any weapons currently sit, so if it makes long-term sense to move a weapon, they likely will.
While fans may have to wait a bit to see some of these tweaks and additional balances to weapons, new content appears to be on the way after fans adjusted their date and time, revealing a new set of tests for January 20, 2026. As part of the set, a Toxic Swamp task appeared in the list, seemingly confirming a new map state in ARC Raiders it's been rumored for weeks now.
- Released
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30 October 2025
- ESRB
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Teen/violence, blood
