ARC Raiders Free Loadouts Could Be Changing, Say Devs

A lead developer at Embark, the studio behind The Finals and, most recently, ARC Raiders, has revealed that the team is considering making some significant changes to free loadouts in the extraction shooter. While ARC Raiders has soared to unexpected heights over the last few months, even being awarded Best Multiplayer Game at the 2025 Game Awards, it hasn't been without its issues. One of the biggest complaints fans have concerns the shooter's free loadout system, but Embark says it is considering some tweaks.

For anybody who hasn't jumped into the surprise hit of 2025, ARC Raiders, like most other extraction shooters, has a free loadout feature that removes all the risk, but puts players at a massive disadvantage. Equipping a free loadout in ARC Raiders will give players a low-level weapon, such as a Ferro or Stitcher, minimal healing items, reduced inventory space, and a much lower maximum weight capacity. The aim is to allow those with no gear to head in, loot up, and extract, but it's often used by players who do actually have high-value gear, but would rather reduce all of the risk of losing it by loading into a raid and attempting to PvP those with an actual kit. If they die, they've lost nothing, but if they win, they come out a lot richer than they were when they went in.

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ARC Raiders Dev Comments on Possible Free Loadout Changes

Free loadouts will come with one of four weapons: the Ferro, Stitcher, Kettle, or Rattler. Most of these weapons (not you, Rattler) are actually extremely powerful, with the likes of the Stitcher being able to compete with much rarer ARC Raiders weapons, like the Bobcat. When asked by GamesRadar+ if Embark feels these free loadout weapons are too strong, design lead Virgil Watkins said it has been spoken about quite a lot at the studio. "When we look at the data, the economic outcomes for a free loadout in terms of how much you are profiting relative to a player who is using their own kit, it's so marginally better, and that's because you're risking nothing by coming in," the developer reveals. He then goes on to state that the data shows free loadouts aren't actually overperforming when compared to those who bring their own kit in.

Watkins then said that Embark is likely to adjust other aspects of the free loadout system before changing any of the weapons. "I think it's the other aspects of it that we're going to look at adjusting a little bit – whether it's exactly what they come with, the number of slots they have in the inventory, or the weight. I think that's probably what we'll play with first before looking at deeper restrictions."

After the studio makes these changes, the design lead said that is when the studio will evaluate the weapons that come with free loadouts to see if they "require some adjustments." Watkins uses the Stitcher as an example, saying, "If the Stitcher is way too effective even at level one, sure, we'll adjust that so it fits more appropriately in the perception of what that should do. But again, if you have that free kit and you are playing well or playing intelligently, you should still be able to win that fight."

As is the case with most live-service games, ARC Raiders will continue to receive new balance adjustments and improvements as the game continues to evolve. Considering that the shooter still peaks at more than 300,000 concurrent players on Steam every single day, it's clear that ARC Raiders isn't going anywhere anytime soon. After taking a much-needed Christmas break, Embark returned with the first major content update of the year this week, adding a new map condition, player project, and more as part of the ARC Raiders Headwinds update.

While new content is great, players are continuing to call for some major new features to be added to the game. This week's new 1v3 matchmaking option seriously missed the mark for most players, as much of the community has been calling for Embark to add high-tier raids to ARC Raiders. The studio has said it has heard the requests loud and clear, but has yet to confirm if such an option will definitely be added to the game in the future.

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