The first major ARC Raiders update of 2026 is about to arrive, and it's called Headwinds. The ARC Raiders team has also unveiled plans for the next four months, with their Escalation roadmap detailing what we can expect from February's Shrouded Sky update, March's Flashpoint update, and Riven Tides in April. Here's everything you need to know!

New Solo VS Squads Matchmaking Option

If you're over level 40, you will now be able to join a match solo against a lobby of squads. To compensate for the added danger, you'll be able to earn additional XP for playing alone.

ARC Trophy Display Project

This new project will involve taking prizes from fallen ARC enemies you've defeated. You'll be able to progress through the levels as you display new trophies, and unlock items as rewards.

Buried City Birds

Birds in the Buried City are busy making their nests and have scavenged valuable supplies. Their nests can be found in chimneys across the map. We think this is likely to be the minor map condition mentioned in the ARC Raiders roadmap below.

Cosmetics

The Headwinds update introduces two new cosmetic sets, including the Sandwalker Set, pictured above.

ARC Raiders Update Roadmap

So what's next after Headwinds? The team shared a roadmap with information on their plans over the next four months, with an update planned for each month. We don't have release dates for any of them other than Headwinds yet, though.

Shrouded Sky Update - February

This update will introduce a new map condition (a major one, in comparison to the Buried City birds in Headwinds) plus a new enemy type, a new player project, a new raider deck (the game's battle pass) and an update to the map.

The second Expedition window will open in February, too, so best get preparing if you're wanting to head out! Expeditions offer the opportunity to essentially 'reset' your character in exchange for permanent rewards. To find out more, see our ARC Raiders Expedition Guide: Rewards, What's Reset, and How to Register.

Flashpoint Update - March

Another new map condition is set to arrive in March, plus another new ARC threat and a new player project. There will also be an update to the lovable Scrappy the Rooster.

Riven Tides Update

This update looks like a big one, with a whole new Map promised, a new Large ARC to contend with, a new map condition, and another Expedition Window opening up.

1.13.0 Patch Notes

Highlights

• Open Parties
  • The option to set your party to open so your Embark and platform friends can join you seamlessly (even when you're in round to wait in the lobby to join your next match).
• Squad Invites
  • Added the option for squadmates to invite others to the party as well as the party leader.
• Achievement fixes.
• Stella Montis Seed Vault extract fix.
• Mouse smoothing option added.
• Gamepad rebinding.

Content and Bug Fixes

Achievements

• Fixed issue causing progress towards Enemy of my Enemy achievement to not get tracked.
• Fixed issue causing Hook, Line, and Sinker achievement to not track correctly.

ARC

• ARC traversing obstacles has been improved.
• Leaper
  • Leaper is now better at walking when it loses its legs.
• Shredder
  • Dead Shredders are now properly labelled as scavengeable when pinged.
• Snitch
  • Fixed an issue where Snitches would abort calling down ARC if players threw a Lure Grenade during the call.
  • Snitches will no longer make noise after they are destroyed.
• Spotter
  • Fixed an issue where Spotters would follow players into buildings and get stuck.
• Tick
  • When grabbed by the Tick, players will now have a brief window of time where they can dodge-roll to remove the Tick.

Audio

• Fixed an issue where emotes were missing voice lines in the store and customization preview.
• Fixed voice chat cutting in some cases.
• Improved voice chat connection.

Maps

• General
  • The types of containers that can spawn condition specific blueprints have been lowered during Electromagnetic Storm, Hidden Bunker, and Locked Gate.
  • Raised the chances of finding higher tier weapons in weapon cases.
  • Slightly lowered the chances of finding Matriarch and Queen unique parts in their armor pieces to make it a bit harder to get them without destroying them completely.
  • Fixed multiple containers across all maps that were not interactable.
  • Fixed a raider hatch timing bug and camera getting stuck when the interaction fails.
• Dam Battlegrounds
  • Tweaked some of the cliffs around the raider outpost tower on the Dam where players tended to get stuck.
  • Adjusted the elevator shaft collision to prevent players from getting stuck on the Dam Control Tower.
  • Fixed collision issues inside the Pattern House on Dam Battlegrounds.
  • Fixed an issue where players could reach an unintended location in Water Treatment.
• Buried City
  • Removed an invisible wall in a nook beneath the Buried City highway.
  • Removed the musical puzzle from Buried City - the guitar is now purchasable at Shani's.
• Spaceport
  • Fixed an issue where rocks and grass would float in the air on Spaceport.
  • Adjusted ARC spawn location during Hidden Bunker on bunker antennas to try to make sure they can't spawn directly on top of the antennas.
• Stella Montis
  • Fixed the Seedvault extraction glitch on Stella Montis that allowed players to remain in the extraction point after it had closed.
  • The Night Raid lighting has been updated with most lamps turned off.
  • Fixed 40 locations on Stella Montis where players would frequently get stuck.
  • Fixed the Bastion in Stella Montis being able to spawn out of bounds and attack players through walls.

Miscellaneous

• Various crash fixes.
• Added an option for mouse smoothing.
• Added a matchmaking delay option for stream sniping mitigation.
• Fixed an issue that allowed players to play the guitar while using the zipline.
• Made aim assist consistent across different framerates.
• Fixed issues with inputs not always registering at framerates above 30.
• Fixed an issue where one of the Macro set's helmet variants appeared incorrect in-game.
• Fixed some trinket items not being placeable in trinket slots.
• Fixed various clipping issues.
• Fixed an issue that sometimes caused the sun lens flare VFX to show up even if the sun was behind thick clouds.
• Fixed an issue where the selected codex entry was not always visible.
• Fireworks boxes will get set off randomly after deploying Raider gets knocked out.
• Fix some graphics settings resetting to default on restarting the game on PS5.
• Lighting polish on various maps.

Movement

• Fixed an issue where player movement input would temporarily be unresponsive after having network connection issues.
• Fixed an issue where players would fall off a ladder when attempting to descend shortly after climbing to the top.
• Fixed an issue where players would automatically jump off a ladder when entering while crouched.

UI

• Added a new tab to the options menu that allows free rebinding of most gamepad buttons.
• Fixed the display of VOIP trigger actions when playing with gamepad on PC, improved wording to make the current VOIP mode (push to talk vs. toggle to talk) more obvious.
• Fixed an issue where the UI would sometimes display too low inventory value in the Expedition sign up.
• Fixed an issue where weapons placed in Expedition-provided stash slots did not appear in the weapon upgrade screen.
• Fixed an issue where item amounts didn't display for non-stackable items in Projects donation rewards and Trials rewards.
• Added the option of ‘open party’ so Embark and platform friends can join seamlessly (even when in round to wait in the lobby and join the next match).
• Added the option for squadmates to invite others to the party as well as the party leader.
• A new display will be shown when a friend joins the party of a player that is topside.
• For users who have Discord linked, you can also now invite Discord friends to play, or have Discord friends join you straight if you have open party enabled.

Utility

• Fix zipline anchor point updating its position correctly when on a moving platform.
• Changing augments in loadout now arranges the excess items in the stash better.
• Fixed an issue where two players using a defibrillator at the same time would revive a downed player with full HP.

Quests

• Added additional interactions to the final objective in the ‘Groundbreaking’ quest.

Anti-Cheat

• A three strikes progressive ban system is in the process of being implemented. Bans will progress from 30 days, to 60 and finally a permaban for repeat offenders.

Full Patch Notes

If you wish to read the Patch Notes in full, you can do so via the official ARC Raiders Steam Community 1.13.0 Patch Notes post.