What if the most revealing detail about ARC Raiders is not how often players fight each other, but how much they accomplish without doing so? The ARC Raiders PvE future looks particularly interesting after Embark Studios published its first anniversary statistics. Millions of machines have fallen, strangers have received thousands of heals, and an experimental cooperative mode has attracted considerable activity.
Yet there is a curious absence in the celebration. Despite the game’s reputation for unpredictable encounters between rival Raiders, Embark has not included a single PvP statistic in its anniversary infographic. That does not mean competitive encounters are becoming less important. However, it raises an interesting question about which parts of ARC Raiders deserve more attention during its second year.
The biggest ARC Raiders numbers tell a PvE story
On October 30, 2026, Embark Studios celebrated exactly one year since ARC Raiders launched on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. The Swedish developer, owned by Nexon, marked the occasion with an infographic covering the community’s first 365 days of surviving Topside.
To celebrate the anniversary, Embark has also left a free gift for every player in their in-game inbox, which can be claimed simply by logging into ARC Raiders.
The headline figure is extraordinary: 6 billion rounds played. Spread evenly across the year, that represents approximately 16.4 million raids per day, or around 685,000 every hour. These are averages rather than actual daily activity measurements, but they illustrate the enormous amount of time players have spent exploring the Rust Belt.
Meanwhile, Raiders have destroyed more than 14.8 billion ARC machines. Among those victories are 3,920,595 Queens and 2,919,521 Matriarchs, two of the game’s most intimidating mechanical enemies. Combined, these encounters account for more than 6.8 million defeated heavyweight machines.
These figures reveal the scale of environmental combat. Nevertheless, they cannot establish how frequently players cooperate or how many encounters involve PvP. A single extraction can contain both activities, and Embark has not published the breakdown needed to compare them.
A community that does more than hunt other Raiders
Not every memorable moment in ARC Raiders involves stealing another player’s equipment. In fact, some of the anniversary’s most interesting statistics concern helping others and surviving the game’s unpredictable world.
According to Embark, one player has healed 5,643 Raiders. That individual achievement stands out in a game where approaching a stranger can be dangerous. Healing another player may be a practical decision, an act of generosity, or simply a way to survive a difficult encounter together.
Elsewhere, players have delivered more than 6,800 tons of food to Scrappy, the rooster companion responsible for scavenging useful materials. Apricots are apparently his favorite snack. The Anvil also emerged as the Rust Belt’s most popular weapon, while 3,625 unfortunate Raiders met their end beneath volcanic rocks.
These details matter because they describe a multiplayer experience that extends beyond combat rankings. Resource management, environmental hazards, companion interactions, and unexpected alliances all contribute to the game’s personality.
However, there is an important distinction: cooperative behavior inside a PvPvE game does not automatically mean players want PvP removed. Some of the most memorable alliances exist precisely because betrayal remains possible.
Why the ARC Raiders PvE future matters after October’s test
The anniversary arrives at a particularly important moment. During October 2026, Embark experimented with a temporary PvE matchmaking option that prevented players from damaging one another. The test generated more than 30 million PvE rounds, providing the studio with substantial information about an alternative way to experience the game.
As Battle4Play previously explored in its coverage of Embark’s unresolved PvE mode decision, participation alone cannot determine whether a permanent cooperative option would succeed. Players might enjoy peaceful exploration occasionally without wanting it to replace the standard extraction experience.
There is also an interesting historical connection. ARC Raiders originally began development as a cooperative PvE experience before Embark shifted toward its current PvPvE structure. Consequently, the recent experiment revisits an idea that once occupied a central place in the game’s development.
The studio has been gathering feedback and expects to communicate more about its findings in November. However, a permanent PvE mode has not been confirmed, and an update about the experiment should not be confused with a guaranteed announcement.
For the ARC Raiders PvE future, the important question is whether cooperative gameplay should remain an occasional alternative or become a more substantial part of the experience.
What Embark’s missing PvP statistics mean for year two
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the anniversary infographic is what it does not measure publicly. There are no figures for Raiders eliminated by other players, equipment stolen during confrontations, or extractions ruined by hostile encounters.
That omission deserves attention, although it would be misleading to interpret it as evidence that PvP participation is declining. Embark may simply have preferred to celebrate achievements that are easier to share across different playstyles.
Still, the selection gives the anniversary a distinctive tone. Instead of emphasizing competition between players, the studio highlights shared environmental challenges, individual acts of assistance, and the community’s collective impact on the Rust Belt.
Balancing those different experiences will remain a design challenge. A similar tension between human opponents and environmental threats appears in FromSoftware’s approach to PvPvE combat in The Duskbloods, where competitive rules and encounter balance are also important development considerations.
For Embark, several possibilities remain open. It could restore a limited cooperative matchmaking option, develop more dedicated encounters against ARC machines, or continue refining the existing mixture of human and mechanical threats. These are potential directions, not confirmed additions.
The recent Frozen Trail update also demonstrates how new environments can expand the game’s challenges. Meanwhile, Embark has said it is working on future content, without detailing everything players should expect.
Ultimately, the ARC Raiders PvE future is about more than adding a separate mode. It concerns how Embark preserves the tension that defines its extraction shooter while making room for players who enjoy facing the Rust Belt together. Six billion raids have already shown the game’s remarkable scale. Its second year may reveal which experiences the community wants to keep returning to.
Official source: Embark Studios — ARC Raiders First Anniversary, October 30, 2026.
Creator of the website, Pokemon trainer by nature. Trying to report on everything related to the world of video games, series and movies. Yu-Gi-Oh is my weakness, collecting cards since the dawn of time.
