ARC Raiders Addresses Cheating Concerns With New Anti-Cheat Plans

ARC Raiders has quickly established itself as a standout extraction shooter, but its rapid rise in popularity has also brought familiar live-service challenges. In recent weeks, players have raised serious concerns about cheating, exploits, and disruptive behavior impacting matches across the game.

With the new year underway, Embark Studios has now shared its response, outlining several steps aimed at restoring trust and improving the overall experience.

🛡️ Anti-Cheat System Improvements

Embark confirmed that significant updates to ARC Raiders’ anti-cheat systems are already in progress. These changes focus on improving detection accuracy and accelerating the removal of players who violate the rules.

Key goals of the updated approach include:

Deploying new detection mechanisms designed to identify cheating more effectively
Issuing faster and more consistent bans for confirmed offenders
Updating internal systems to better adapt to evolving cheat methods

The studio emphasized that these efforts are being treated as a top priority moving forward.

⚙️ Ruleset Changes and Exploit Fixes

Beyond detection tools, Embark is also making adjustments to the game’s ruleset to close loopholes that cheaters and exploiters have taken advantage of.

Planned improvements include:

Client-side fixes targeting known out-of-bounds exploits
Rule adjustments aimed at limiting abusive or unintended gameplay behaviors
Ongoing monitoring to ensure fixes remain effective after deployment

These changes are intended to reduce frustration caused by long-standing exploits that have affected fair play.

🎥 Streamer Protection Tools

Another focus of Embark’s plan is addressing stream sniping, an issue that disproportionately affects high-visibility players and content creators.

To help mitigate this problem, the studio plans to introduce:

New tools designed specifically to reduce stream sniping
Additional safeguards aimed at protecting live broadcasts from targeted abuse

While these tools primarily benefit streamers, Embark believes they also contribute to a healthier ecosystem by discouraging disruptive behavior.

⚖️ Balance Updates and Macro Abuse

Cheating concerns aren’t limited to hacks alone. Embark also acknowledged issues related to macro usage and unintended advantages tied to specific equipment.

Upcoming adjustments are expected to include:

Balance nerfs to overperforming items
Fixes to prevent macro abuse that allows unrealistic rates of fire
Continued tuning to ensure competitive balance remains intact

These changes are part of a broader effort to ensure that skill—not exploits—determines success in ARC Raiders.

🗓️ Update Timing and Expectations

While no exact release date has been confirmed, Embark stated that future updates will follow a new release cadence. Patches are now planned for Tuesdays instead of later in the week, with the first update of 2026 expected soon if timelines hold.

🧠 Final Thoughts

Cheating is an ongoing challenge for nearly every modern live-service game, and ARC Raiders is no exception. Embark Studios’ response signals a clear acknowledgment of player concerns and a commitment to addressing them through technical improvements, rule changes, and targeted fixes.

Whether these measures are enough will depend on execution and consistency, but the outlined plans represent an important step toward preserving competitive integrity and long-term player confidence.