For players exhausted by being shot while trying to scavenge in peace, an ARC Raiders PvE mode sounds like an obvious answer. Embark Studios, however, has spent months pursuing a more complicated compromise: encourage cooperation, match players partly by behavior, and preserve the possibility that another Raider may still ruin the afternoon.

As of July 17, Embark has not announced dedicated global PvE matchmaking. That remains true despite sustained community requests, a major decline in the game’s Steam audience, and a Chinese beta that is already testing a more cooperative ruleset.

What is Embark testing in China?

The Chinese version of ARC Raiders is testing a condition called Rebellion Incident, according to reporting from PCGamesN and Destructoid. Under those rules, players remain neutral toward one another unless they choose to become hostile. Anyone who does opt into aggression is marked accordingly.

That is not quite the same as a sealed PvE server, but it moves much closer to one than the standard global game. Players can focus on ARC machines and extraction without treating every human silhouette as an immediate emergency. Combat between players still exists, but hostility becomes an explicit choice rather than the default uncertainty.

Embark has not said that Rebellion Incident will reach other regions. The test could become a wider experiment, remain specific to China, or disappear after the beta. Regional publishing demands and player preferences may also influence its design, so the existence of the mode is not proof of an international rollout.

Still, its presence matters. It shows that the studio can build an extraction experience in which cooperation receives stronger protection. The remaining question is whether Embark believes that structure belongs everywhere.

Does ARC Raiders already offer partial PvE options?

Saying the game has no cooperative alternative at all misses some important details. In February, the limited Shared Watch condition encouraged Raiders to fight ARC enemies and work together. Windows Central noted that PvP remained possible, meaning cooperation was promoted rather than guaranteed.

Embark also uses aggression-based matchmaking. PC Gamer reported that the system tends to place players with similar behavior together, although it does not create guaranteed peaceful lobbies. Defending yourself no longer counts as hostile behavior, which helps prevent reluctant fighters from being classified alongside players who actively hunt others.

The studio says most Raiders are not consistently peaceful or aggressive, but fall “somewhere in between.” It wants Topside to remain uncertain rather than become “completely predictable.” That philosophy explains why a strict PvE queue presents more than a technical decision. It would change the tension Embark considers central to the game.

Behavior-based matchmaking and temporary cooperative conditions may therefore be the studio’s preferred middle ground. They can reduce unwanted combat without dividing matchmaking pools, progression systems, or the in-game economy. It is a tidy compromise, apart from the players who keep asking for something less compromised.

How severe is the player decline?

Steam data supports concerns about shrinking engagement, but the full picture is less terminal than the bleakest community posts suggest.

Steam Charts recorded an average of 241,197 concurrent players in January. That figure fell to 35,915 in June and roughly 30,560 across the latest 30-day period. The drop is substantial, even allowing for the usual decline after a major multiplayer launch.

Publisher Nexon offers a broader counterpoint that includes activity beyond Steam. By May, ARC Raiders had:

  • Sold more than 16 million copies
  • Generated 1.5 billion hours of play
  • Seen more than half of active players exceed 100 hours

Nexon described the remaining audience as “large and deeply loyal.” Both versions of the story can be true: the game has lost considerable momentum while retaining a committed core community across its platforms.

That distinction matters because PvE is often presented as a rescue switch. A dedicated mode could bring back some lapsed players, particularly those who enjoy the machines, exploration, and scavenging but dislike unpredictable human attacks. It could also split queues or alter an economy built around risk from both ARC units and rival Raiders.

Why are other extraction games adding PvE?

ARC Raiders increasingly stands apart from competitors that offer ways to avoid hostile players. Escape from Tarkov added a dedicated PvE platform alongside its standard PvPvE experience. Arena Breakout Infinite has also announced a permanent PvE mode.

Bungie has experimented with PvE content for Marathon as part of its effort to improve retention. Elsewhere, several extraction games either include cooperative modes or build their entire identity around fighting computer-controlled enemies.

The wider field includes:

  • Incursion: Red River, a PvE-only tactical extraction shooter
  • Escape from Duckov, a PvE parody built around extraction systems
  • Delta Force, which includes a PvE option
  • Gray Zone Warfare and its Joint Operations mode
  • ZERO Sievert, Cargo Hunters, Far Far West, The Forever Winter and Road to Vostok
  • Ghosts of Tabor, which offers PvE in virtual reality

Dark and Darker has also explored PvE play, while Embark’s other shooter, The Finals, uses bot-filled practice lobbies. These examples vary widely in structure and ambition, but they reflect a clear demand: many players like extraction mechanics without necessarily wanting every encounter decided by another person’s trigger discipline.

Could Frozen Trail change Embark’s position?

Embark still describes October’s Frozen Trail release as the largest post-launch update for ARC Raiders. The announced plans include a new map and additional progression content, but the studio has not listed PvE-only matchmaking.

Nexon says Frozen Trail is intended to reactivate lapsed users and “reshape how ARC Raiders is played.” That language leaves room for major systems changes, though it should not be mistaken for confirmation of a cooperative-only queue. Official updates so far have focused on routine store additions and live-service releases rather than a global version of Rebellion Incident.

A dedicated PvE option would not automatically restore January’s audience. Players leave live-service games for many reasons, and one new queue cannot reverse every frustration. Yet the Chinese test, Shared Watch and behavior-based matchmaking all show Embark responding to the same underlying concern: some players want social tension, while others want room to engage with the world without becoming someone else’s loot delivery service.

The studio’s challenge is no longer proving that cooperative play can fit ARC Raiders. It is deciding how much uncertainty the game can remove without losing the identity Embark built around it.