With the latest update, not only does a new project arrive in ARC Raiders, but also a change for certain map conditions. This mainly affects players who do not want to risk any gear for their rounds.
What does ARC Raiders remove? On June 16, 2026, update 1.33.0 brought a new project and a fresh event to the extraction shooter. Additionally, Embark temporarily disables the free loadout for the map conditions “Night Raid” and “Under Close Observation”.
The developers wrote in their blog post on June 16, 2026:
We are disabling the free loadout […], to raise the entry barrier so that players in these scenarios, who have better loot, engage in a reasonable risk-reward balance.
This change is temporarily limited to three weeks. Depending on feedback and the impact, this restriction could also be applied to other map conditions.
“I would come back for that”
This is how the change is received: The overall sentiment is positive, the community finds the step reasonable. Many emphasize that rounds without free loadouts feel fairer because every raider must invest something. There is something to lose, rather than going in without risk.
The top comment in a Reddit post comes from Human-Syllabub-1452. He writes: “I haven’t played for a while, but I could come back for exactly that. Raids where everyone is fully equipped would be absolutely peak.” Almost 600 users agree with him.
In another Reddit thread, players point out that the deactivation of free loadouts would be particularly beneficial during the Queen and Matriarch events. The user theta0123 explains, for instance, how frustrating it is when people with free gear scoop up the hard-earned loot and immediately rush to extraction.
At the same time, some users demand that Embark should next address the so-called “Naked Runs.” This concerns players who start completely without gear but can still bring valuable items, like Queen’s cores, to Speranza thanks to a safety bag.
While some see it as a problem because these raiders risk nothing, others believe that loot is deserved if one survives a round completely without gear.
Many players, however, see the problems as stemming from a missing feature in ARC Raiders. Since assembling gear often takes a lot of time, many resort to the free loadout. Interestingly, a senior developer feels the same way: Developer of ARC Raiders knows that the game is currently missing something, and admits: He plays instead with free loadouts
What do you think of the change? Do you think it is good that Embark is removing the free loadout for the map conditions, or did you like using the feature? Let us know your opinion in the comments!
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