Most live service games would have revealed what’s on the cards for 2026, but most haven’t had the success of Embark Studios’ ARC Raiders. With over 12.4 million sales and strong acclaim from critics and fans, it’s certainly at an advantage. That said, design lead Virgil Watkins confirmed we’ll see “multiple maps” releasing this year.
Speaking to GamesRadar+, Watkins remained relatively vague on what they would offer, but one thing is for sure: You may see some that surpass the scope of current environments. “I think it’s going to be across a spectrum of size to try to facilitate different types of gameplay. So you might see some that are smaller, and you might see some that are even grander than what we’ve got now.”
Of course, Embark isn’t rushing to just throw a bunch of new maps out and hope for the best. “The ambition is to try to pair it with some new type of experience, whether that’s the map conditions or weather conditions we put in that make the play feel different, enemy types or compositions feeling different, or we’re escalating the types of loot available there.”
Having a thematically cohesive map is also useful. “Adding a new map has its own novelty, and it’s a new place to play and do that. But what else? Thematically, gameplay-wise. How do the enemies and the items and the experiences in that map all point toward something? It’s kind of getting that thematically cohesive stuff together that feels like, ‘Oh, guys, the Whatever Update just came out for ARC Raiders. Let’s go check that out.'”
Then again, there are other methods used to keep players on their toes, specifically the different environmental conditions. Players recently discovered that toxic swamps could be coming to the extraction shooter, and outside of simple modifiers, they’ll facilitate new trials like powering air purifiers. It’s pretty much in line with what Cold Snap offered.
Fans can likely expect more Raider Decks, weapons, quality of life improvements (including to Expeditions), and so on, but Embark is also aware that the ARC roster needs to be bolstered. Perhaps with the next major update? With Watkins promising a roadmap is coming “very soon,” it won’t be long before we find out.
ARC Raiders is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Check out our review of the base game, which we gave a nine out of ten.
