ARC Raiders executive producer Aleksander Grøndal has gone on record saying the game's Expeditions system might not just get reworked, it might disappear entirely. Speaking at Gamescom, Grøndal was direct about the state of things: "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."
That's a pretty significant admission from the top of the project.
Why Expeditions went on ice
Expeditions are ARC Raiders' take on a wipe mechanic, but with a twist. Unlike the hard resets you see in games like Hunt: Showdown, Expeditions in ARC Raiders are entirely optional. They function more as an endgame prestige track than an economy reset, letting players choose to participate rather than forcing everyone through a seasonal wipe. The idea was to give hardcore players something to chase without alienating more casual ones.
The problem? A fairly small slice of the player base actually engaged with the system. Embark tried iterating on Expeditions across multiple Caravan windows, at one point replacing skill points with "mystery rewards" to address frustration from newer players, but the reception stayed lukewarm. Player feedback consistently pointed to Expeditions feeling like they weren't worth the time investment.
Back in August, Embark Studios pulled the plug on Expeditions entirely, announcing they would not return until early 2027. The stated reason was that the system needed major improvements, not just a patch. That was already a notable move. Now Grøndal is suggesting the rework might go even further than anyone expected.
What 'scrapping' would actually mean
Here's the thing: Expeditions aren't just a side feature. They represent one of the clearest design differences between ARC Raiders and more punishing extraction shooters. Removing them entirely would mean Embark needs something to replace that endgame loop, not just leave a gap where the system used to be.
Grøndal didn't hint at what a replacement might look like. The team is still in the "figuring out" phase, and that's honest if a little unsettling for players who built their long-term engagement around Expeditions. The key here is that Embark seems willing to make a genuinely big call rather than shipping another incremental tweak that doesn't move the needle.
Frozen Trail comes first
Before any of this gets resolved, Embark has the Frozen Trail update dropping on October 8. The studio has described it as the biggest update to ARC Raiders since launch, and there's real pressure on it to pull player numbers back up. Recent Steam reviews had dipped toward 50 percent negative, which is the kind of signal that tends to sharpen a developer's focus.
Frozen Trail is also being positioned as a moment for Embark to deliver larger structural changes after a stretch of smaller seasonal adjustments. Expeditions won't factor into it at all, but how the update lands will likely shape the conversation around what comes next for the game.
If you want to get familiar with the current Expedition structure before anything changes, the ARC Raiders expedition requirements guide breaks down every stage in detail. And if you're spending time in the game while waiting for news, the ARC Raiders crafting and looting guide covers workbenches, materials, and upgrade paths worth knowing. Any real clarity on what replaces or replaces Expeditions is unlikely before the new year.
