Arc Raiders Expeditions may be scrapped entirely, Embark Studios suggested at Gamescom - going well beyond the planned pause until early 2027. Executive Producer Aleksander Grøndal said the team is now weighing whether to rework the endgame system or remove it altogether, with no final call until after the Frozen Trail update lands in October.
Embark walks back its 2027 Expedition promise
The shift is stark compared to what players were told last month. In a blog post on August 21, 2026, Embark said the fifth Expedition would be the last until early 2027, when Expeditions would return with major improvements tackling some of the biggest player pain points. The message was clear: pause, fix, bring it back better.
At Gamescom in September, that certainty disappeared. Speaking to PCGamesN ahead of the Frozen Trail update, Grøndal said the studio is still figuring out next steps and that a full removal is now on the table. The pause that was framed as a guaranteed comeback is now an open question, and players who were grinding toward that fifth Expedition are left wondering if the system they were grinding has a future at all.
What Arc Raiders Expeditions actually are
If you haven't hit endgame yet, Arc Raiders Expeditions are not the main loop. Arc Raiders is Embark's PvPvE extraction shooter - you drop in, loot, dodge ARC machines and other raiders, and extract. Expeditions sit on top of that as an optional prestige-style pursuit.
Think of it as a voluntary wipe. You commit progress and head out on a longer, higher-stakes run with its own objectives and rewards, resetting parts of your advancement for a fresh climb. Unlike hardcore wipes in other extraction games, it was never meant to balance the economy for everyone. It was pitched as something extra for players who had finished the core progression and wanted a new reason to keep playing. In practice, that optional nature became part of the problem - few players felt compelled to opt in.
Why players bounced off Arc Raiders Expeditions
Embark was upfront that Expeditions weren't landing. The studio acknowledged player feedback around rewards and engagement, and the numbers told the same story. Only a small portion of the player base was participating, according to coverage of the Gamescom interviews, and each new Caravan window - the limited-time Expedition rotations Embark used to iterate on the system - failed to move the needle.
For a live-service endgame system, low participation is fatal. Players reported that the risk of wiping progress didn't match the payoff, and the loop felt more like a chore than a prestige flex. Embark tried tweaks across those Caravan periods, but the core complaint stayed consistent: not rewarding enough, not engaging enough to justify starting over. That is why the August blog promised major improvements rather than minor tuning. The studio said it needed a longer break to address the biggest pain points properly.
Grøndal's Gamescom interview: scrapping on the table
“Maybe we'll scrap the whole system altogether. That is on the table, too. Right now, the team is trying to figure out what the next steps for Expeditions are.”
— Aleksander Grøndal, Executive Producer on Arc Raiders, via PCGamesN at Gamescom
Grøndal didn't sugarcoat the state of the system. Asked about the future of Arc Raiders Expeditions, he said: "Was the system perfect? No, probably not. We want to make some significant changes to the Expedition system. But I think right now we're focused on, 'yeah, they are what they are,' but the intent is to have them change."
The key detail is timing. Embark has not decided exactly how the mode will change, and it won't confirm anything before Frozen Trail ships. Grøndal said updates on Expeditions will come a bit later, once Frozen Trail is complete and live. The studio is very much aware of the feedback, but for now the focus is entirely on getting the October update out the door. That leaves Expeditions in limbo for at least a few months - paused after Expedition five, with no guarantee of a return in its current form.
Frozen Trail: what's arriving October 8
While the fate of Arc Raiders Expeditions hangs in the balance, Embark's immediate roadmap is Frozen Trail. The update is set for October and is positioned as the bigger priority for the live game right now.
Embark is framing Frozen Trail as a progression overhaul plus new content. Expect a new winter-themed map, changes to how progression feels across the mid and late game, and the usual seasonal additions that come with a major Arc Raiders update. The studio has described it as just the beginning of a broader rework, which makes sense if Expeditions are being reconsidered from the ground up. If the core progression gets healthier, any future endgame system - whether it's a fixed Expedition or something entirely new - has a better foundation to build on.
For players, the practical takeaway is simple: don't plan your grind around Expeditions. If you were saving resources or holding off on prestiging to wait for the 2027 return, there is no confirmed return to wait for. Play the current loop, check out Frozen Trail when it drops, and expect Embark to talk about endgame again only after that update is live.
On PC from the couch?
Keep your library ready for the next drop
warmUP is a couch-first launcher for gaming PCs - unified library across Steam, Epic, GOG and emulators, controller-first navigation, zero setup. Free download, boot straight to play.
What this means for Arc Raiders' live-service future
Scrapping a marquee endgame system is a big call for any live-service game, especially one that advertised Expeditions as its long-term chase. It signals that Embark is willing to cut rather than patch a system that isn't working, which can be healthier long-term than forcing players through a mode they don't enjoy.
The risk is trust. Players who invested time in Expeditions - learning the wipe cadence, chasing Caravan rewards - may feel that progress was devalued if the system disappears. Embark will need to be clear about what, if anything, carries over or gets compensated, and what replaces Expeditions if it does get scrapped. A straight removal with no successor would leave a gap at the top end, right when Frozen Trail is trying to bring lapsed players back.
The upside is focus. If Frozen Trail fixes progression and the new map delivers, Embark buys time to design an endgame that actually pulls players in, rather than one they feel obligated to tolerate. Whether that ends up being Expeditions 2.0 or a completely different prestige system, the Gamescom comments make one thing clear: the old version is not coming back as-is, and it might not come back at all.
Key takeaways
- Arc Raiders Expeditions are paused after the fifth Expedition until early 2027, but Embark now says the system may be scrapped entirely.
- Executive Producer Aleksander Grøndal told PCGamesN at Gamescom that scrapping the whole system is on the table and no decision will come before Frozen Trail launches.
- Expeditions struggled with low participation and weak rewards despite iterative Caravan updates, prompting Embark to promise major improvements in its August 21 blog.
- Frozen Trail is next - an October update with a new winter map and progression overhaul - and Embark will revisit Expeditions only after it ships.
Written by
Devon Yates
Launcher & Platforms
Devon follows the platform wars: stores, subscriptions and the battle for your launch screen. He writes the weekly news roundup.
Comments(0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.
