Embark Studios has announced that Arc Raiders' fifth Expedition, opening September 8, will be the last one until early 2027. The developer says it needs to pause the feature to make "major improvements" after reviewing player feedback.
In a blog post, Embark said that while it has made ongoing improvements to Expeditions, some issues raised by players—such as tight departure windows, the reward structure, and accessibility for new players—require more than incremental fixes and instead "call for bigger changes." More details on those changes are promised for September.
Expeditions function similarly to prestige systems in other games, letting high-level players reset much of their character's progress in exchange for unique benefits. The system has been a source of ongoing community debate, particularly around its grind.
As part of the fifth Expedition, Embark has already made one significant change: players no longer automatically reset their quests when they wipe their character for an Expedition, and can instead opt into a quest reset. Since the Hullcracker Blueprint was previously only obtainable through the quest line, Embark says it will provide other ways to earn it. The company also confirmed that any Expedition bonuses already earned will carry over through the pause, and any partially completed Caravans will be converted into Ermal Vouchers of equal value, usable for Ermal offers, ARC Parts, and firearms trades, or which can be sold for Coin.
The pause means the game's October 8 Frozen Trail update will launch without an accompanying Expedition, which outlets note breaks from Arc Raiders' past pattern of releasing content right before an Expedition window—a practice that had made new rewards hard to fully use until after an Expedition concluded. Coverage also points out that this hiatus comes as the game's Steam reviews have reportedly fallen to around 50% negative, with Embark reportedly acknowledging that "it's time to expand."
Reaction from players has been mixed. Coverage describes response as more hostile on X than on the Arc Raiders subreddit, but notes there isn't a widespread sense of relief either place. Many players are said to be taking a wait-and-see approach, agreeing Expeditions need work but expressing doubts about whether Embark can get the changes right, while others are reportedly satisfied with the current system and don't want it altered.