Arc Raiders Expeditions will be on pause until early 2027 after the upcoming fifth wipe while developer Embark Studios plans "major improvements" to the divisive system.
In a new blog post, Embark outlines changes made with the fifth Expedition. The footnote is the most important part: "The fifth Expedition will be the last one until early 2027, when Expeditions will return with major improvements, tackling some of the biggest player pain points."
Oddly enough, this means the big October 8 update, Frozen Trail, will come and go without an Expedition.
Historically, Arc Raiders has made a bad habit of putting out new content right before an Expedition window, meaning players planning to wipe and prestige their raiders can't really engage with the new rewards until after the Expedition concludes.
Skipping Expeditions altogether solves that problem quite tidily for Frozen Trail, but it does also remove a cog from the endgame loop. Of course, if you never bother with Expeditions, this doesn't annoy you one bit. Here's hoping the promised long-term pursuits of Frozen Trail provide more appealing goals to work toward in this downtime and beyond.
Embark says "we have been carefully reviewing your feedback on Expeditions, and while we've made ongoing improvements along the way, we've come to realize that some of the issues you've raised, like the tight departure windows, the reward structure, and accessibility for new players, need more than incremental fixes. They call for bigger changes."
One big change was just made in the fifth Expedition. Players no longer automatically reset their quests when they embark on an Expedition and wipe their character. Instead, you can opt into a quest reset if you, for some unknowable reason, wish to repeat some of the most unrewarding quests to ever blight a game.
And if you're wondering, Embark says "since the Hullcracker Blueprint can only be obtained through the quest line, we will give you other ways to get it."
Any expedition bonuses players have obtained will persist through this quiet period. "Also, since Caravans will be reset," Embark explains, "any partially completed Caravans will be replaced with Ermal Vouchers of equal value which can be used to purchase Ermal offers together with ARC Parts and firearms trade, or sold for Coin."
Between Frozen Trail and this Expedition hiatus, it feels like Embark has decided that the usual live service appetizers aren't making a difference anymore. The game's declined considerably since launch, and increasingly it feels like the coming winter season may be its last real shot at rekindling that day-one fire.
