Embark tells ARC Raiders players to “prepare” as new tease emerges

It’s been barely two days since ARC Raiders went offline, and I feel like there’s a void in my life. Embark Studios’ sci-fi extraction shooter is off to an excellent start, following the recent Tech Test that invited the biggest pools of players into the Rust Belt yet. However, there’s still no word of an ARC Raiders release date, but Embark already appears to be teasing the game’s return.

To mark the conclusion of the ARC Raiders Tech Test, Embark Studios announces plans to overhaul the game’s Discord server in a bid to “clean up” now that in-game activity is quieter. However, senior community manager Cissi Ramsby seemingly suggests that ARC Raiders is returning in a bigger fashion. “This Discord server will go to read-only tomorrow at 09:00 [AM] as we need some time to clean up and prepare you for the next thing,” Ramsby says in a message to players on Monday, May 5, 2025.

Following this, the game’s official account on X extends a thank you to players while confirming the Rust Belt will be open for raiding again: “Thank you so much to all of you who took part in Tech Test 2! Didn’t get to join this time? No problem, we’ll be back.” While the latter message could point to the game’s general release, we believe the overwhelmingly positive response to the playtest is setting the stage for another one.

Much of the conversation surrounding ARC Raiders brings genre rival Marathon into question, after Bungie’s new FPS game drummed up a more tepid reception in its alpha. My ARC Raiders preview confirms which camp I’ll be in for some extraction shooter fun, this year, I’ll say that much. Pending any delays, Marathon remains on track to launch on September 23, 2025. Bungie is even addressing Marathon Nintendo Switch 2 port questions ahead of that, too.

The big question, though, is when exactly is ARC Raiders releasing? I expect that Embark Studios will confirm the ARC Raiders release date soon, and I believe a shadow drop at Summer Game Fest is likely. The developer gave The Finals the same treatment at The Game Awards in 2023. It’d certainly be poetic for ARC Raiders to become available through this method.

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