Stella Montis, 2025. A raid begins with 16 players scattered across a map, but within minutes, the tone shifts. Some huddle in the shadows, swapping blueprints and music. Others stalk the perimeter, waiting for a moment to strike. Then, without warning, a lone raider turns on a teammate mid-conversation—a spark that ignites a chaotic free-for-all. By the time the Matriarch collapses, the loot is gone, and the lobby has fractured into warring factions. This isn’t a scripted event; it’s the kind of emergent storytelling Arc Raiders’ developers never anticipated, yet now embrace.
For Embark Studios, the game’s explosive player base has forced a reckoning with live-service expectations. The team’s latest update, Shrouded Sky, arrives as a direct response to these organic trends—balancing aggression-based matchmaking, refining Expedition mechanics, and confronting the logistical nightmare of scaling a game that defies conventional design assumptions.
The studio’s design director, Virgil Watkins, spoke exclusively about how the team is navigating these challenges, from the unintended rise of ‘care-bear’ lobbies to the technical hurdles of patching a game now played by millions—far beyond their original test scenarios.
Aggression-Based Matchmaking: A System Without Binary Labels
The term ‘aggression-based matchmaking’ (ABMM) has become a lightning rod in Arc Raiders’ discourse, with players divided over whether the system unfairly segregates lobbies. Watkins clarifies that the matchmaking isn’t designed to label players as ‘friendly’ or ‘aggressive’—it’s a fluid assessment of in-game behavior over time. Shooting one raider in a round doesn’t automatically consign a player to a hostile lobby; instead, the system evaluates patterns across multiple matches.
�It’s not a hard split,’ Watkins explains. ‘There’s no such thing as a friendly lobby or an aggressive lobby. The game mixes everyone, and your engagement with PvP is part of the broader context.’ The goal, he adds, isn’t to police player motivations but to ensure the game remains dynamic. ‘We need that tension and risk from other players to keep it exciting.’
Yet the emergence of ‘care-bear’ lobbies—where players prioritize cooperation over conflict—has surprised even the developers. ‘In our tests, people never worked together,’ Watkins admits. ‘We saw hyper-aggressive play, but live service revealed a different side. Players are forming these communities where they share blueprints, play music, and role-play.’ The team’s response? Lean into it. ‘We’re giving players the tools and context to create their own stories,’ he says. ‘We don’t want to force a narrative.’
For PvP-focused players, the challenge lies in ensuring fairness without stifling the chaos. ‘We’re tuning balance and providing tools for combat,’ Watkins notes, ‘but the choice to fight is always the player’s.’ The result? A game where a silenced sniper might lurk in a ‘friendly’ lobby, waiting to turn a peaceful moment into a three-way brawl—exactly the kind of unpredictability the developers now celebrate.
Expeditions and the Blueprint Dilemma
The Expedition system, designed as an optional reset mechanic, has become a contentious topic. Players complain about the grind of re-earning blueprints, while the team acknowledges the currency system was a stopgap. ‘It’s an experiment,’ Watkins says. ‘We didn’t want forced resets, but now we’re asking: How do we make this loop compelling for the most players?’
Key pain points remain: the high coin requirements for blueprints, the lack of carryover between Expeditions, and the skill tree’s eventual max-out. ‘Skill points won’t last forever,’ Watkins confirms. ‘We’ll revamp parts of the tree and tie more game loops into Expeditions.’
One player suggestion—allowing a ‘safe pocket’ for favored blueprints—has merit, though Watkins hesitates. ‘Blueprints are a major power elevation,’ he explains. ‘If we let players carry them over, does that undermine the core progression?’ The answer may lie in systemic changes rather than patching the Expedition model itself. ‘We might give players more autonomy over how they acquire blueprints,’ he hints, ‘rather than making Expeditions the only path.’
The Live-Service Learning Curve
Running a live-service game at Arc Raiders’ scale has been a crash course in crisis management. ‘We never thought we’d have this many players,’ Watkins reflects. ‘Now, we’re constantly dropping what we’re doing to respond to bugs, DDoS attacks, or exploits.’ The team’s biggest lesson? ‘You can’t predict what players will find in live service.’
Take the recent duplication glitch: it exploded in visibility when a prominent streamer highlighted it, forcing Embark to prioritize a fix. ‘We already had a patch ready,’ Watkins notes, ‘but timing becomes critical.’ Other issues, like wall glitches, are far more complex. ‘These are physics and networking problems built into the game’s foundation,’ he warns. ‘Patching them rapidly is risky.’
The studio’s decision to switch from free-to-play to paid at launch may have paid off. ‘Players who commit to a purchase do more research,’ Watkins observes. ‘They’re more invested.’ This alignment has fostered a dedicated community—but it’s also created higher expectations. ‘We’re still learning how to balance responsiveness with thorough testing,’ he admits.
Boss Fights and the Loot Rush
The Matriarch and Queen bosses, once challenging encounters, now fall in minutes—especially in cooperative lobbies. ‘We gave players too effective tools too early,’ Watkins concedes. The loot rush that follows isn’t just a PvP bloodbath; it’s a symptom of a system where high-level players dominate encounters, leaving lower-tier raiders frustrated.
The solution? Refine the encounters to reward teamwork without making them trivial. ‘It’s not meant for the full server to tackle these bosses,’ Watkins clarifies. ‘It’s about dedicated squads working together while* dealing with other players.’ The challenge is striking a balance where bosses remain engaging without becoming a free-for-all over scraps.
For Watkins, the most rewarding moments are the ones the team didn’t script. ‘Players create their own stories,’ he says. ‘Whether it’s a lone sniper causing chaos or a lobby turning vigilante justice on a killer, that’s the magic of Arc Raiders.’ The developers’ role? Provide the tools—and then step back.
The road ahead for Arc Raiders is shaped by these organic trends. With Shrouded Sky* on the horizon, Embark Studios is doubling down on player-driven experiences, even if it means embracing the chaos over control.
