ARC Raiders team will be participating in Gamescom from August 26th to 30th. Besides merchandise and freebies, there's also a chance to see Scrappy. For us, the more anticipated aspect is whether this event will bring more information about Frozen Trail.
Many people haven't lost interest in ARC Raiders, but have already completed most of the current game's content. Frozen Trail is highly anticipated, and players now want to know if October update can solve the game's long-term problems.
If Frozen Trail can give veteran players a reason to continue playing, its significance will go beyond just content addition; it could become a major turning point for ARC Raiders.
Endgame
Expeditions is currently one of the most discussed topics in ARC Raiders community. Many players want to know how Expeditions system will continue to develop after its suspension. After Frozen Trail, will new goals, rewards, or gameplay elements that players can engage with long-term be added?
This question is closely related to endgame content. As players complete quests, projects, workbench upgrades, and other long-term goals, new content in Frozen Trail will gradually become available. At this stage, if players dislike PvP and are tired of repetitive loot loops, the amount of content they can continuously pursue will significantly decrease.
ARC Raiders Endgame needs to provide veteran players with substantial gear and resources, with something worthwhile to invest in. New arcs, hardcore arc maps, and more dangerous events can provide a renewed challenge for accounts nearing completion.
Besides Expeditions, Skill Tree is also key to changing the endgame content after Frozen Trail. I hope ARC Raiders team can answer at Gamescom 2026 whether Skill Tree Rework will be released with October Update, as this directly affects future gameplay.
QoL
Another issue players are concerned about is the optimization of QoL. Future updates to ARC Raiders will almost certainly revolve around loadout system. For players who enjoy experimenting with different gear, each new loadout setup can take 5 to 10 minutes, followed by reorganizing parts.
The raid itself might only take a few minutes, but the pre-raid preparations significantly slow down the pace.
An ideal loadout system doesn't need to be overly complex. Saving 3 to 5 favorite loadouts and displaying whether inventory is missing items during configuration selection would solve a large part of the problem. If an ARC Raiders Item is missing, it should be clearly indicated instead of requiring players to revisit the stash.
Stash management is another QoL area that ARC Raiders needs to optimize. Organizing stash, preparing ammo, crafting gear, splitting the stack, and selling or recycling are not difficult operations in themselves, but they are repeated for every raid.
Ammo is particularly problematic. Having enough materials but being unable to craft ammo because of a lack of stashes slots makes inventory management go from a strategic trade-off to a mere operational burden.
A search bar function also needs to be implemented. As your inventory and materials grow, even finding recently crafted items can require searching through countless resources. A direct search by name would greatly simplify stash management.
Repairs suffer from similar issues. Having the blueprint and necessary materials but having to leave ARC Raiders repair page, craft in another interface, and then return to complete the repair is cumbersome. A repair interface that directly handles crafting would streamline the process.
Outfit
Currently, ARC Raiders outfit design is relatively complete, but players want more freedom to combine headwear, body, sunglasses, and other components. For example, owning a cowboy hat should allow players to combine it with other outfits, rather than being limited to official preset combinations.
Many discussions also compare it to The Finals. Since the same development team has already implemented rich character customization in The Finals, players naturally wonder why ARC Raiders still restricts the combination of different parts.
The official explanation mentions preserving the aesthetic vision, but this doesn't completely dispel doubts. After all, some outfits already feature a mix-and-match design, so we're more interested in whether this is because of technical limitations, visual style considerations, or simply a current lack of plans to open up more combination options.
PvE Servers
PvE-only serves and a No-ABMM mode are another area worth noting. ARC Raiders' core is PvPvE, but as playtime increases, some players do want more options, such as a fully PvE environment or the ability to disable ABMM.
Therefore, whether there are any plans for PvE-only servers or a No-ABMM mode is a question worth raising during Gamescom. The community's demand for PvE doesn't mean PvP has lost its appeal. What truly affects the experience for some players are cheaters, free kits, and extreme PvP behaviors.
Meanwhile, the differences in experience between Solo, Duos, Trios, and Squad Fill are also significant. Some players prefer teaming up with a fixed group of players rather than relying on random matchmaking. Therefore, the question isn't whether ARC Raiders should abandon PvPvE, but whether Frozen Trail can offer more gameplay options while retaining the core value of PvP.
Lore
ARC Raiders' world-building leaves much to explore. Its story isn't told all at once, but pieced together gradually as players explore. This makes Frozen Trail even more noteworthy, as the icy environment itself could become a crucial vehicle for expanding the world-building.
Embark developed both ARC Raiders and The Finals. Although the two games have completely different gameplay, historical settings, and narrative styles, the community has never stopped searching for possible connections between them and Lore. Gamescom 2026 provided an excellent opportunity to ask these questions.
Instead of directly asking if the two games share a universe, it's more appropriate to ask: How closely are the worlds and lore of ARC Raiders and The Finals connected, and should players expect those connections to become more obvious in the future? If Embark has indeed planted some connections between the two titles, Frozen Trail might be one such point to watch.
ARC Raiders Frozen Trail, while adding new maps, missions, and cosmetics, could certainly bring a sense of novelty, but for veteran players who have already completed most of the content, this appeal might not last long. What truly matters is whether it can change the existing game loop, and Gamescom 2026 will be the best platform for officially answering these questions.
