Embark Studios said it would drop its Frozen Trail update in October for ARC Raiders as part of a strategy to focus on fewer, larger updates.
The new update with a new map will hit on October 8 on Steam.
Embark Studios had a surprise hit with ARC Raiders when it launched at the end of October 2025. It saw a meteoric rise in players (with at least 14 million copies sold) for a few months, and the small studio had to scramble to put out updates to keep players coming back. But then the concurrent players started to dwindle, and on May 13, Embark announced it would stop trying to feed the weekly or monthly beast and instead move to more significant updates.
It was a risky strategy, as players demanded all sorts of new features, and if the company didn’t deliver, they could choose to leave. ARC Raiders’ concurrent users on Steam rose to more than 400,000 for the first few months, then it slowed in the spring and now the CCU is around 50,000 or so. We’ll see whether the Frozen Trail can bring them back. I’ve played it more than 192 hours and I recently hit the level cap of 75. I think many players decided to stop playing the game after they hit the level cap.
Embark sees the Frozen Trail as its biggest and best update to date, with a new map set beyond the mountains in a harsh, frozen settlement at the edge of the Rust Belt. The update introduces a new map, high-level challenge, ARC threats, deeper progression systems, and more requests from the broader community.
Key features include:
- The Next Frontier – Raiders will venture beyond the mountains into a harsh, frozen settlement at the edge of the Rust Belt, featuring greater verticality, exploration, and opportunities for discovery.
- New High-level Challenge – Frozen Trail will introduce an enormous new ARC Operation built for experienced Raiders, emphasizing meaningful decisions, dynamic encounters, cooperation, and survival.
- New ARC, New Threats – New ARC threats will challenge Raiders with new behaviors and require players to adapt how they move and fight.
- Deepening Progression – Players will be able to expand beyond their Raider Den into a new Outpost, which can be decorated and used to research the world and begin reclaiming the surface. Frozen Trail will also introduce changes to the Skill Tree and Raider Decks, giving players more ways to shape their Raider.
- And More – The team is continuing to work on new content to enhance players’ experiences, as well as new weapons (and personalization!), gadgets, cosmetics, instruments and other surprises, alongside continued improvements to matchmaking, anti-cheat, stability and quality of life updates.
Frozen Trail arrives October 8, with more details to be revealed in September.