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ARC Raiders does consider how you interact with other Raiders when matching you, but it does not sort players into strictly hostile and friendly lobbies. Embark says players with similar playstyles are more likely to meet, not guaranteed to—and that behavior shifts your likely matches gradually.
Does ARC Raiders match hostile players with other hostile players?
Not as a strict rule. Embark describes matchmaking as playstyle-based: it considers multiple factors, with your behavior across previous rounds—especially how you engage with other Raiders—among the strongest. The goal is to bring players with similar playstyles together more often, not to create separate PvP and PvE queues. The official explanation puts it plainly: “Similarity is more likely, not guaranteed.” (Embark Studios, May 20, 2026)
That means a player who often starts fights may be more likely to encounter others who play similarly, but no lobby is guaranteed to be aggressive or cooperative. As design director Virgil Watkins told PC Gamer, “There’s no such thing as a friendly lobby or an aggressive lobby; the system is still mixing everybody, and everything’s down to human motivation.” (PC Gamer, February 19, 2026)
Will one kill change your future matches?
No single shot or kill instantly sets your future lobby type. Embark says it looks for patterns across rounds, and that the effect of changing your playstyle is gradual: “Your behavior shapes your future lobbies – gradually.” The studio does not publish a kill threshold, scoring formula, action weights, or exact time window, so claims that a specific number of kills flips your matchmaking are unsupported.
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How does the system treat self-defense?
Embark’s May 20, 2026 update says it now distinguishes defending yourself from initiating a fight. That change is intended to avoid treating a player who responds to an attack as though they started the encounter. The same update says low-activity rounds—such as spawning and surrendering—now carry less influence on the playstyle estimate.
What else affects ARC Raiders matchmaking?
Embark says matchmaking balances several goals, including fairness, enjoyable encounters, squad-size matching where possible, queue time, and latency. Playstyle is one factor among them. The studio has also clarified several things that do not determine your aggression profile:
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- Loadout and its cost: Embark says neither scales lobby difficulty.
- End-of-round surveys: Feedback is not a control for your next lobby and has no mechanical matchmaking effect.
- Looting a knocked-out Raider: Embark says this does not affect the playstyle estimate.
- Squad leader: One leader does not set the whole squad’s profile; each member contributes.
- Crossplay: It changes the matchmaking pool and can affect queue time, but does not promise more cooperative or more PvP-oriented matches.
These details and the update are in Embark’s matchmaking-system notes. The studio has not disclosed the full formula, so the relative weight of individual actions beyond its stated distinctions is unknown.
Are PvE-only or guaranteed-safe lobbies available?
No. ARC Raiders does not promise PvE-only or safe matchmaking. A player who generally avoids fights can still meet someone who chooses to attack; the system is intended to influence the odds, not remove that risk. Watkins also said the developers did not want a hard split between players who choose different approaches (PC Gamer interview).
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What the “aggression-based” label gets right—and misses
The label captures that PvP behavior matters, but it can make the system sound more binary than Embark describes. The more accurate description is playstyle-based matchmaking that uses Raider interactions as a significant signal, adjusts over time, and still mixes players with different motivations. You can choose to be cautious or aggressive, but matchmaking cannot ensure that everyone you meet will make the same choice.
For its May 20, 2026 explainer, Embark addressed several claims about the system, including self-defense, low-activity rounds, and loadouts; PC Gamer summarized those clarifications.
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