The much-discussed matchmaking system in extraction shooter ARC Raiders is changing again, but the developers say it’s due to player feedback.
ARC Raiders’ 1.3.6 update went live today, and while there’s not much new content to speak of (more on that later), the change to matchmaking should hopefully improve the player experience until there’s more to do.
In the update, Embark Studios said it now tracks player playstyles separately for solo, duo, and trio rounds, and matches them accordingly along with its “aggression-based” style of how it pairs you with other players. Devs say the change was made after taking feedback in a matchmaking survey a few months ago.
“Say you are a friendly solo player, but your two squadmates always want to dominate in trios PvP,” the patch notes said. “Before, being friendly solo could push you into more cooperative trio rounds, and playing PvP-focused in a trio could push you into more PvP-focused solo rounds – so changing squad size meant matchmaking took a bit to adjust. Now, there’s no overlap.”
This will be helpful for players who like to run missions and scavenge materials solo, but group up and hunt down PvP with their friends in duos or trios, instead of actively being pushed into PvP fights regardless of their squad size.
This sounds like a solid and positive change, but I have to say that any lingering interest I had in ARC Raiders died out with May’s announcement that the devs would only be releasing large-scale content updates every six months. I still think it’s an excellent game (and said as much in my review from October 2025), but the lack of refreshing activities inevitably means that players run out of stuff to do.
Elsewhere in the update, there’s a slew of bug fixes and a couple of new cosmetic outfits, including a crossover with THE FINALS that players can unlock by completing Contracts in the game from July 9 to July 30.
