ARC Raiders Players Think Embark Just Made a Big Change to…

The ARC Raiders community believes developer Embark Studios may have quietly adjusted the game's matchmaking system in a recent update, as players say their lobbies are now far less friendly. While the conversation surrounding PvP in ARC Raiders has divided the community ever since its launch back in October, those who enjoy focusing more on the PvE section of the game have been able to do so thanks to the shooter's aggression-based matchmaking system, but there is now a serious fear that a major change has just been made.

ARC Raiders may not have been the first extraction shooter to release, but it has been heavily praised by players for approaching the genre with a much more casual experience. One of the ways that this has been achieved is by the implementation of an aggression-based matchmaking system for ARC Raiders. While there is clearly also an element of skill-based matchmaking involved, Embark has confirmed that it prioritizes those searching for PvP with similar players, while those who very rarely fire a bullet at other Raiders will be matched with much friendlier opponents. This keeps both parties happy, as those who just want to loot and destroy ARC are free to do so, while anybody seeking to engage in battle doesn't have to keep shooting friendly players in the back.

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By Kyle Knight

ARC Raiders Lobbies Seem to Be Much More Aggressive Now

Earlier this week, Embark Studios released the second ARC Raiders update of the year, bringing the shooter to version 1.12.0 with some fixes for Stella Montis and a handful of other duplication exploits. The patch notes made no mention of any adjustments to the game's matchmaking, but fans believe Embark has done some quiet fine-tuning, as lobbies now seem to be much more aggressive to some. In a new post on Reddit, user Element423 asked if anybody had noticed a change to their matchmaking after the most recent update, explaining how they "never shoot at anyone" but have now been taken out three times in a row on Dam Battlegrounds. The user does note that they anticipate this happening from time to time, but believes three times in a row seems rather out of the ordinary.

The post has received over one thousand updates in less than 24 hours, suggesting there are many other ARC Raiders players out there who agree. Fellow fans also chipped in with their two cents, as one user said, "Yes. I was only in the friendliest lobbies before. We’d all work together on Arc and share items if needed. Now I’m getting shot at all the time." Another player said they have "been noticing a mix," speculating that Embark could be attempting to fine-tune the matchmaking to have more friendly and aggressive players together. Some even theorized that the matchmaking is completely reset with each new update, meaning friendly players must work their way back into friendly lobbies.

It's worth noting that Embark has made no mention of any recent changes to the game's matchmaking, so for now, these remain nothing more than player theories. But, with that being said, the studio has said in the past that it will continue tuning how its aggression-based matchmaking works, so it's possible that the most recent update did include some dials being turned behind the scenes.

The game's matchmaking has caused a divide between the community, as it allows players to "cheese" the system and work their way into friendly lobbies even though they are aggressive players. This could be seen as a way for players to pick up some easy kills, but I, personally, do this so I can gear up from looting without the worry of being shot in the back. Embark has explained to players that it is a "weighted system" and not "quite so A/B as people might assume," but it definitely seems like there have been some adjustments over the last few days.

Given Embark's previous comments, fans can likely expect more changes to the game's matchmaking in the future. Outside of these adjustments and bug fixes, the studio has also revealed that it plans to release multiple new maps for ARC Raiders throughout this year, each of which will vary in size.

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