ARC Raiders is an extraction shooter developed by Embark Studios, with cumulative sales past 16.3 million units as of August 2026. Its largest update yet, Frozen Trail, arrives October 8, 2026, under a new biannual content schedule.
ARC Raiders has moved past its early launch phase into a period of sustained commercial success and content expansion. Cumulative sales passed 16.3 million units by August 2026, a figure that supported Nexon's announcement of a special dividend of about 324 billion yen, or 415 yen per share, pending board approval in September 2026. The sales milestone followed second-quarter results that beat forecasts.
Embark Studios shifted the game's major content cadence from monthly to twice a year in May 2026. The first test of that policy is Frozen Trail, announced on August 12 and arriving October 8. Embark called it the game's largest update yet. It adds a new map set in a frozen settlement at the edge of the Last Belt, with abandoned villages, factories, research facilities, and observatories, plus new ARC machines, skill tree and Raider deck adjustments, weapons, gadgets, cosmetics, and quality-of-life fixes. The story approaches the origins of the ARC machines as Raiders investigate an unidentified signal from beyond the mountains.
ARC Raiders has also appeared in platform and system news beyond its own updates. NVIDIA listed it among titles gaining RTX Spark support at Gamescom 2026, alongside EA SPORTS F1 25, Apex Legends, Anno 117: Pax Romana, and THE FINALS. Microsoft linked the game to crashes caused by the August 12, 2026 Windows update, offering a temporary workaround that disables RGB lighting drivers. Japanese media outlets Game*Spark and AUTOMATON ran a self-organized duck toy competition in the game in May 2026, an unofficial event that ended with AUTOMATON winning 77 to 35.
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NVIDIA announced new RTX Spark support at Gamescom 2026. Electronic Arts, Embark Studios, and Ubisoft will provide titles including EA SPORTS F1 25, Apex Legends, Anno 117: Pax Romana, ARC Raiders, and THE FINALS. EA Javelin Anticheat is being built with native support for the Arm-based SoC. NVIDIA also released DLSS 4.5 Ray Reconstruction.
Microsoft announced a temporary workaround on August 22 for game crashes and other issues caused by the August 12 security update KB5121003 on Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2. Affected titles include ARC Raiders, MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls, and THE FINALS. The fix involves disabling a specific driver via the registry editor.
Microsoft acknowledged that the August 12, 2026 Windows update (version 26100.9168/KB5121003) may cause crashes, freezes, and system restarts in some games, including ARC Raiders, The Finals, and MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls. The company is investigating whether the issue is caused by Microsoft and asks users to report problems via the Feedback Hub.
Nexon announced a special dividend of about 324 billion yen, or 415 yen per share, pending board approval in September 2026. The payout follows second-quarter results that beat forecasts, with MapleStory franchise revenue up 63% year-on-year and ARC Raiders cumulative sales passing 16.3 million units.
Embark Studios announced on August 12 that ARC Raiders will receive its largest update to date, titled Frozen Trail, on October 8. The update follows a May 2026 policy shift that moved the game's major content cadence from monthly to twice a year, with Frozen Trail being the first major release under that new schedule. The update introduces a new map set in a frozen settlement at the edge of the Last Belt, featuring abandoned villages, factories, research facilities, and observatories, with greater verticality and exploration opportunities. New high-level challenges are designed for experienced Raiders, demanding meaningful choices, dynamic encounters, and cooperation. The update also adds new ARC machines, ranging from small nuisances to massive threats, plus adjustments to skill trees and the Raider deck system. Additional content includes new weapons, gadgets, cosmetic items, instruments, and improvements to matchmaking, anti-cheat, stability, and quality of life. The story will approach the origins of the ARC machines, as Raiders investigate an unidentified signal from beyond the mountains. The game is available on PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and Microsoft Store, as well as PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Embark Studios is running a 25% off Steam sale for extraction shooter ARC Raiders, which has sold over 16 million copies. The studio also detailed the 'Frozen Trail' update, arriving in October 2026 as the largest update yet, following a shift from monthly to biannual major updates. The update adds a new map, enemies, and progression systems.
At NDC26, Embark Studios machine learning lead Martin detailed how the studio uses ML for recommendations, quest generation, and enemy behavior. A key takeaway was that a simple EASE recommendation model increased purchasers by 400% in The Finals, but organizational hurdles nearly killed the project until an engineer physically moved desks to the commercial team.
Japanese game media outlets Game*Spark and AUTOMATON held a collaborative event in the extraction shooter 'ARC Raiders' on May 29, 2026, that ended with a direct competition over in-game duck toys. The event followed a previous co-op session where an AUTOMATON editor betrayed a Game*Spark writer, creating a grudge. For the rematch, the two editors ran solo raids for one hour on the 'Buried City (Bird City)' map, collecting duck toys of varying rarities for points. AUTOMATON won with 77 points against Game*Spark's 35. The loser, Game*Spark's writer, had to donate high-rarity items from their stash to the winner in a subsequent raid, but a mistake left the AUTOMATON editor stranded without an extraction key, resulting in the items being lost to other players. The event was not an official game mode but a self-organized challenge.