Despite the game's overwhelming success, Arc Raiders's Expeditions has always been a contentious gameplay mechanic. The challenge offers players a window to complete a challenge and reset their Raider in exchange for permanent player upgrades, like more skill points, additional loot storage, cosmetics, and buffs, but, according to a new post by Embark Studios, Expeditions will be paused after The 5th Expedition, which starts on August 21.

The 5th Expedition window will open on September 8 and close on September 29, and even with this Expedition, Embark has introduced changes to the challenge structure in order to make the character reset less tedious for players who have run more than one Expedition in the past. The studio behind Arc Raiders explains that some of the issues highlighted by player feedback "need more than incremental fixes," and call for bigger changes, which it aims to implement after an Expedition pause, which will last until "early 2027."

Embark Studios highlights tight departure windows, new player accessibility, and the reward structures as issues it hopes to address in the Expedition rework. The studio is careful to note that progress will not be lost with the Expedition pause, explaining that the Expedition pause will not affect consecutive buffs, and players who have completed all five Expeditions will unlock the Zenith Outfit. Partially completed Caravans will be reset and replaced with Ermal Vouchers "of equal value" for use on in-game items.

The full Expedition Pause announcement reads:

FUTURE EXPEDITIONS

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.

In order to address those concerns, we need to pause the Expeditions for a while. 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. So, if you've been on the fence about departing - now is the time! We will share more details on what those changes will look like in September.

During the pause period, any of the consecutive buffs you have earned will persist so no progress is lost. If you have completed all five Expeditions, the Zenith Outfit will be fully unlocked. Also, since Caravans will be reset, 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.

As always, keep the feedback coming. Let us know what you think, and we will continue to make improvements.

The ARC Raiders Team