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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchARC Raiders is scheduled to test a PvE matchmaking toggle from October 13 to 20, 2026. The trial gives players a way to face ARC machines without taking damage from other Raiders, but Embark has not promised a permanent PvE mode. Whether that mode would improve the game is a design trade-off: it could serve players who prefer co-op, while removing one of the risks that helps define the existing PvPvE experience.
What the ARC Raiders PvE toggle test includes
Embark’s announced test runs October 13–20, 2026. Players can choose between classic PvPvE matchmaking and a PvE experience focused on co-op against ARC. In PvE sessions, player-to-player damage is disabled, and solos, duos, and trios can share a session. PvE play will not affect a player’s PvPvE matchmaking rating. Embark describes the toggle as a way to switch between relaxed PvE sessions and higher-tension PvPvE matches. Read Embark’s announcement.
It is a different risk-and-reward balance
Embark says overall loot value will be lower in PvE to compensate for the relative safety. There is also a specific danger when ARC downs a Raider: machines may reacquire a player who is moving or crawling, but ignore a downed Raider who stays still. The trial is an alternative to player encounters, not a test of harder ARC enemies or a new PvE progression system.
Some conditions are excluded
Night Raids, Hidden Bunker, Locked Gate, and Frigate will not be available in the PvE test. Embark says these conditions depend on uncertainty about which other players a Raider might encounter.
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How the PvE test compares with classic PvPvE
| Experience | Player encounters | Loot and risk | Special conditions | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PvE toggle test | Zero player-to-player damage; solos, duos, and trios can be matched together. | Overall loot value is lowered. ARC may reacquire moving or crawling downed Raiders. | Night Raids, Hidden Bunker, Locked Gate, and Frigate are excluded. | Scheduled for October 13–20, 2026; the toggle is removed afterward. |
| Classic PvPvE | Hostile player encounters remain possible alongside ARC threats. | Embark describes the game’s central loop in terms of risk and reward as players stay topside and face exposure to ARC and other Raiders; a comparable loot-value figure is not stated in the announcement. | The listed exclusions apply to the PvE test; the announcement does not frame them as exclusions from classic PvPvE. | Matchmaking returns to normal after the test. |
Is this a permanent PvE mode?
No permanent mode has been confirmed. Embark says it will remove the toggle when the test ends, then review feedback and data before deciding what comes next. The studio said: “This test is not a promise that there will be a PvE mode in the future, but take this as an indication that we are seriously considering it.” It also says the trial may not work and that any future version could look very different. No permanent-mode release date or final implementation is established.
Why Embark built ARC Raiders around PvPvE tension
ARC Raiders did not begin as the game it is now. Embark says its original concept was a raid-based co-op PvE game about looting, but the idea ran into significant challenges. The studio reset it as a high-tension PvPvE extraction adventure. Xbox Wire’s 2025 account likewise describes the move from co-op-only to PvPvE as the project’s largest evolution, with staying topside longer offering more potential resources but increasing exposure to both ARC and other Raiders. Xbox Wire’s account of the game’s evolution.
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In a February 2026 interview, design director Virgil Watkins told PC Gamer: “The game needs that element of tension and risk from other players to be good.” He also said the game does not require players to fight one another: “We still have the mantra—and this is even regardless of the formation of this PvE-heavy audience—that the game never asks you to fight other players.” PC Gamer’s interview with Watkins.
Those ideas are compatible: players can choose not to attack, but the possibility that another Raider might be hostile is part of the uncertainty. A permanent PvE-only option would remove that source of risk, and Embark’s test offsets the greater safety with lower overall loot value. That could preserve a distinct co-op path without making it identical to PvPvE, but it also changes a central element of the original design. Neither outcome alone proves whether a permanent mode would make ARC Raiders better.
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Why Embark is testing PvE now
Embark’s published player classifications show that play styles are not limited to a simple split between friendly co-op and dedicated PvP. The studio classified 37% of players as “Friendly co-op players,” 27% as “Mixed players,” and 34% as “Pure PvP players.” It also reported that 51% of the surveyed playerbase expressed interest in a dedicated PvE option; more than 70% of Friendly players and 40% of PvP players expressed a desire for fewer hostile encounters. These figures are Embark’s own, not an independent survey. The announcement does not provide sample size, field dates, or methodology, so they should not be treated as representative results or evidence that one factor caused another. Embark’s announcement and figures.
Executive producer Aleks said: “We have to respect that some players want to enjoy the game in their own way, and we can’t ignore what the data is telling us.” That explains why the studio is trying a limited toggle; it does not establish what decision it will make after the trial.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Could a permanent PvE mode be for the best?
There is a reasonable case for keeping a PvE option. Players who mainly want to cooperate against ARC could have a defined way to do so, rather than relying on the choices of strangers in a PvPvE lobby. A separate queue would make that preference explicit, and the announced test shows one possible way to distinguish the experience through matchmaking, loot value, and access to particular conditions.
There is also a cost. Without hostile Raiders, one intended source of extraction tension disappears. Lower loot value may help account for the safer session, but the test does not establish whether that balance would work over the long term or how a permanent mode might be designed. For players who want the uncertainty of other Raiders to remain part of every run, PvPvE still offers the experience Embark originally set out to build.
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The fairest verdict is that the PvE toggle is worth testing, but its permanent value depends on whether it can serve co-op-focused players without undermining the risk-and-reward structure that makes PvPvE distinct. Embark has announced an experiment, not its final answer.
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