Embark Studios is testing a PvE-only matchmaking toggle in ARC Raiders after discovering that a growing number of players were using friendly lobbies to avoid player-versus-player fights. The experiment is meant to determine whether those players need a dedicated format—and whether separating them would damage the tension, difficulty, or loot economy that supports the mixed PvPvE game. Embark has not announced a permanent PvE mode.
Why Embark started testing PvE
Executive producer Aleksander Grøndal told Dot Esports that the team noticed increasingly common cooperative or “friendly” servers. In his description, players who mainly wanted to complete objectives and fight ARC machines could do that about 95 percent of the time, but one encounter with an extraction camper or a better-equipped opponent could ruin an entire session. The 95 percent figure is Grøndal’s interview estimate, not an independently measured statistic.
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GamesRadar reported Grøndal saying friendly servers were “almost playing out like they don’t have PvP in them at all” and that this group had grown consistently over the game’s history. That behavior gave Embark a practical question to test: would a formal PvE-only queue serve those players better than asking them to negotiate the risk of hostile encounters in ordinary matchmaking?
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What “dad gamers” means in this debate
“Dad gamers” is Grøndal’s informal shorthand, not an official demographic category. He uses it for people who may have only a couple of hours to play occasionally and want to spend that limited time completing objectives and battling ARC machines. For these players, losing a run to another player can feel less like the intended challenge and more like losing the only session they had available.
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The label describes a time constraint and a preferred style of play, not a player’s age, family status, or skill. Other players can want the same lower-interruption experience for entirely different reasons.
What the current experiment changes
The test adds a matchmaking toggle for PvE-only play. Embark is watching two outcomes at once: whether enough players choose the option to show sustained demand, and what happens to people who remain in mixed lobbies. A successful test would not automatically mean that the final feature would use the same rules; Grøndal said any permanent implementation could be tuned differently.
The questions Embark says it must answer
- Does PvE preserve tension? Human opponents create uncertainty around routes, noise, extraction timing and the value of every item. Removing them could make a run feel safer and more predictable.
- Does the mode become too easy? ARC machines still provide combat pressure, but the absence of ambushes and extraction fights could substantially change the difficulty curve.
- What happens to the loot economy? A separate, lower-risk environment could change how quickly players acquire equipment and how often they lose it, affecting progression and the value of items across the wider game.
- How are mixed-lobby players affected? Queue populations, encounter frequency and the distribution of player skill could all shift if a large share of the audience moves to PvE.
Why the developers were divided
Grøndal says the team debated the same question players argue about: whether PvE should be a distinct mode or whether it would effectively create “two games in one.” He said Embark does not necessarily want to build that split, while also making clear that a future form of PvE is not ruled out.
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Production director Caio Braga told PC Gamer that players proved a PvE audience existed. Embark now sees “two, quite polar [types of] fans,” which makes balancing both playstyles difficult rather than simply adding a universal easy option.
PvE and mixed PvPvE: the design trade-off
| Consideration | PvE-only matchmaking | Mixed PvPvE matchmaking |
|---|---|---|
| Tension and unpredictability | Removes hostile-player ambushes and makes encounters more predictable; the final effect is what Embark is testing. | Preserves the uncertainty created by other players. |
| Extraction risk | Reduces the specific risk of losing a run to campers or better-equipped players. | Retains the possibility of player-caused loss at extraction. |
| Difficulty | ARC machines remain enemies, but the overall challenge may be lower without PvP pressure. | Combines machine threats with human opponents. |
| Loot and economy | Could change acquisition and loss rates; Embark has not published a final economic model. | Uses the current risk-and-reward structure. |
| Time commitment | Better fits players who have limited play windows and want objective-focused runs. | Offers the possibility of a high-stakes encounter interrupting a short session. |
| Player agency | Provides an explicit choice to avoid hostile players. | Relies on the existing principle that players decide whether to fight. |
These are design trade-offs, not measured results. Embark’s toggle is intended to produce the evidence needed to decide how those trade-offs should be handled.
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Is a permanent PvE mode confirmed?
No. The toggle is an experiment, and Embark has not promised that a permanent PvE queue will follow. The company is evaluating demand, the effect on mixed lobbies, game difficulty, tension and the economy before committing to a long-term structure. A future version could also use different rules from the test.
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What players should watch during the test
- Whether the PvE queue remains populated beyond the initial launch period.
- Whether mixed-lobby matchmaking times or encounter rates change noticeably.
- How Embark adjusts ARC-machine difficulty, rewards, extraction rules or item loss.
- Whether the studio describes PvE as a separate mode, a limited event or a broader matchmaking choice.
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