Arc Raiders' Frozen Trail Update Boosts Player Count as Embark Studios Begins PvE Beta Test

Arc Raiders' latest major update, titled Frozen Trail, released last week, bringing a new map, weapons, and widespread gameplay changes. The update, coupled with the free weekend that went live at the same time, has brought players back to the extraction shooter, pushing its concurrent player count to the highest it has been since March.

Following the launch of the Frozen Trail 2.0 update last week, Arc Raiders hit a high of over 185,000 concurrent players on Steam over the weekend, as per SteamDB charts. The number stands in contrast to the game's concurrent player count in recent months, which has hovered around 30,000 players.

The high concurrent player count also reflects the game's free weekend period between October 8 and October 12, where players across all supported platforms could access the game for free. Additionally, Arc Raiders is currently available with a 50 percent discount on all storefronts.

The renewed interest in the game comes after months of dwindling player counts and lack of major post-launch updates. The last update that added a new map to the game—Riven Tides—arrived in April. In May, developer Embark Studios announced it was changing the cadence of updates, moving away from a monthly update cycle to releasing major updates twice a year.

Frozen Trail is Arc Raiders' biggest update yet. It adds the game's biggest map yet in Pendola Pass, along with a brand-new map condition that features a boardable Arc ship called Frigate. The 2.0 update also brings new Arc enemies, new weapons, a new tier of weapon upgrades, new gadgets, and fully reworked skill trees. The full list of changes can be seen in patch notes shared by Embark Studios.

PvE Beta Test Begins

Arc Raiders is also starting a beta test for a PvE toggle that allows players to queue for PvE matchmaking only. The PvE beta will be live for a week from October 13 to October 20. The toggle will add a new PvE-only server in the game, where players won't be able to deal damage to other players.

However, overall loot value will be lowered in the PvE mode, Embark Studios confirmed in an update on the game's website. Additionally, the mode will not support certain map conditions, including Night Raid, Hidden Bunker, and the newly introduced Frigate.

The default PvPvE mode will continue with standard matchmaking rules. Embark said it would gather and assess data about the impact of the PvE toggle on PvPvE matches before making any sweeping changes to matchmaking. The studio will also collect feedback from players at the end of the beta.