Arc Raiders Is Finally Testing a PvE-Only Mode: 'We Can't Ignore What the Data Is Telling Us'

Arc Raiders was built and sold as a PvPvE extraction shooter, a game where the threat of other players is supposed to be as real as the mechanized ARC machines prowling the surface. Yet for months, the game's most vocal contingent, solo players, has been asking for something the genre rarely offers: a way to avoid PvP entirely.

Now, Embark Studios appears to be blinking.

According to reporting from PC Gamer, the developer is preparing a limited-time test that would let players toggle between the classic PvPvE experience and a PvE-only one. The reported rationale is blunt and telling: "We can't ignore what the data is telling us."

That single line frames the entire story. This is not a philosophical reversal of Arc Raiders' identity. It is a concession to player behavior, and it raises a question the extraction shooter genre has largely avoided answering: what happens when the people playing your PvPvE game keep choosing not to fight each other?

One important caveat before going further: the details of this test currently trace back to press coverage rather than a verified primary announcement from Embark. We are seeking the original developer statement, whether a dev blog, Discord post, or social media update, for direct attribution. Until then, treat the specifics as reported rather than confirmed.

What Embark Is Actually Testing

The reported test is narrow in scope by design. Embark is said to be running a limited-time PvE matchmaking toggle in Arc Raiders, with a window of October 13 to 20, 2026.

During that period, players would be able to switch between the standard PvPvE extraction experience and a PvE-only variant. The key word here is "toggle." This is not a separate permanent playlist being carved out of the game. It is an experiment with a defined start and end date, structured so Embark can observe what happens when the player-versus-player pressure is removed.

That distinction matters enormously. A permanent PvE mode would represent a structural change to Arc Raiders' core loop. A week-long toggle test is a data-gathering exercise, and the language attributed to Embark supports that reading. The studio is not announcing a new direction. It is testing a hypothesis.

The Quote and the Data Behind It

"We can't ignore what the data is telling us."

The phrasing is deliberate. It positions the test as a response to evidence rather than a change of heart. Embark is not saying PvP was a mistake or that the game's identity was misjudged. It is saying the numbers pointed somewhere the studio could no longer dismiss.

What would that data look like? The most plausible explanation is that it reflects player behavior trending toward cooperation over conflict, particularly among solos. If a meaningful share of the playerbase is already avoiding or de-escalating PvP encounters, then a PvE-only option is less a new mode and more a formal acknowledgment of how people are already playing.

That is a measured, defensible position for a developer to take. It also keeps Embark's options open. A data-driven test can be expanded, adjusted, or shelved without anyone having to declare a failure of vision.

The 'Anti-Tarkov' Community That Forced the Conversation

To understand why this test exists, you have to understand the community that produced the data.

Extraction shooters carry a reputation for ruthlessness. The genre's defining touchstone, Escape from Tarkov, is known for brutal PvP encounters where trust is a liability and every other player is a potential executioner. Arc Raiders shares the genre's DNA: players drop into a lethal surface, scavenge for resources, and contend with both AI enemies and rival Raiders.

But something unexpected happened. PC Gamer previously documented Arc Raiders players, especially solos, choosing cooperation over conflict, describing the community as "one of the chillest communities I've ever encountered" and framing the game as the "anti-Tarkov." Players wave. They team up. They help strangers extract. The behavior is documented, widespread enough to earn a reputation, and almost certainly the "data" Embark is now referencing.

That is the contrast at the heart of this story. A game whose genre is built on PvP tension has a playerbase that keeps opting out of it. When your players consistently behave in a way your design did not anticipate, you eventually have to decide whether to fight them or accommodate them. Embark appears to be choosing the latter.

The Identity Question: Does PvE Break the Extraction Shooter?

Embark officially describes Arc Raiders as "a multiplayer extraction adventure" set on a lethal future Earth ravaged by the mechanized ARC threat. That description places other players and the ARC machines on roughly equal footing as sources of danger. A PvE-only mode removes one half of that equation.

Whether that dilutes the experience or broadens it is the central debate among extraction shooter fans, and it is worth being clear that the following is analysis, not confirmed direction.

The case against a PvE lane is that extraction shooters derive much of their tension from unpredictability. Knowing another player could be watching changes how you move, loot, and extract. Strip that out and the mode risks becoming a scavenging simulator with AI enemies, engaging for some, but a different game entirely.

The case for it is simpler: more players. A PvE option lowers the barrier for people who bounce off the genre's hostility, and it gives solos a space that matches how they already want to play. If the community is already self-organizing around cooperation, formalizing that instinct may be the more honest design choice.

There is also a business logic worth noting. Arc Raiders is developed by Embark Studios, the Swedish studio behind THE FINALS, and it operates as a live service with an in-game currency in Raider Tokens. A mode that retains players who might otherwise leave is a mode that keeps them spending time in the ecosystem. That does not make the test cynical, but it does explain why the studio would take the data seriously.

What to Watch After the Test

The test window is short, and what happens after October 20, 2026 will say more than the test itself.

Several metrics will determine whether Embark makes anything permanent. The first is mode population: how many players actually use the toggle, and how that number holds up over the full week rather than spiking on day one. The second is retention: do PvE players stay engaged, or does the mode become a novelty? The third, and perhaps most important, is the impact on the classic PvPvE queues. If the PvE toggle drains players from the core mode, Embark faces a difficult tradeoff. If it expands the overall playerbase without cannibalizing PvPvE, the case for permanence strengthens considerably.

There is also the open question of official communication. A dev blog, Discord post, or social update from Embark could clarify, expand, or contradict the reported details. Until that appears, the safest posture for players is to treat this as a live experiment rather than a finished feature.

A Genre Built on Conflict, Tested by Its Own Players

There is a genuine irony here. Arc Raiders is a game defined by the tension between players, and it is now testing whether its players would rather not fight each other at all. Embark is not defending the original pitch. It is reading the room, and the room has been saying the same thing for months.

That does not mean PvPvE is going anywhere. It means the studio is willing to find out what its own community already knows. The reported details still require primary-source confirmation, and the test itself is limited by design. But if the data holds up, if the PvE toggle fills its queues and the PvPvE queues hold steady, Embark will have its answer. And the extraction shooter genre may have to confront an uncomfortable possibility: that the tension it has always treated as sacred is, for a large share of its players, simply an obstacle to the game they actually want to play.