ARC Raiders Tops 100,000 Steam Players After Frozen Trail 2.0 Update

ARC Raiders just had its best day on Steam in months. Embark Studios released the Frozen Trail 2.0 update on October 8, and the sci-fi extraction shooter climbed past 106,000 concurrent players, a number it hadn't reached since May. For context, it averaged around 40,000 concurrent players in September.

Frozen Trail is the first major update under the semi-annual schedule Embark announced in May, and it's a big one. It also lands alongside a free-to-play weekend on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, giving lapsed players an easy way back in.

The details

• Update: Frozen Trail 2.0, live October 8, 2026
• Platforms: PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
• New map: Pendola Pass, with Frigate and Redirection map conditions
• New enemies: Bully, Skulker and Hydra
• New weapons: Bantam and Stiletto
• Steam peak: About 106,000 concurrent players, the highest since May

What changed

The new content is headlined by Pendola Pass, where Embark is also testing dynamic loot zones that move loot hotspots between matches. New gear includes a Grappling Hook, a Tether Launcher, a Yank Grenade and cameras. The Outpost becomes a permanent Topside home with a Research Bench and 100 furniture designs, and progression gets a revamped skill tree, a new Reward Pass and 22 new quests.

Inventory gets real relief: max stash size goes up two levels, to 328 slots before Expedition bonuses, and you can now drop loot straight from containers onto the ground.

The fixes players asked for

The quality-of-life list is where the patch notes get specific. You can now open the map while downed. A new Scrambling move lets you sprint up steep slopes. Backpack lights can be switched off for stealthier runs, and pings now give more context on ARC enemies and objects.

On balance, the Anvil hand cannon drops to blue rarity after Embark said it was "outperforming weapons both within and above its own level of rarity." The best Queen and Matriarch loot also moves from their leg armor to the leg parts themselves, so stripping armor is no longer the fastest route to top-tier drops.

Why it matters

ARC Raiders peaked near 500,000 concurrent players during its first holiday season and had settled to around 40,000 by September. One update more than doubling that is a strong signal that Embark's slower, bigger-update approach is working, at least for launch week. Whether those players are still queuing a month from now is the real test.