The big winter update Cold Snap will launch in Arc Raiders on December 16. A first teaser from the developers now hints at snow-covered maps.
It’s not just the real world that is slowly but surely turning wintry, but also Arc Raiders. In keeping with the cold season, the Swedish developers at Studio Embark have also planned a cold update for their current extraction shooter.
We’ve known for some time that Cold Snap is coming, thanks to the official Arc Raiders roadmap. Now, however, the developers have also announced a specific launch date: Embark announced on Twitter that the new update will be released on Tuesday, December 16, 2025.
Although an exact launch time has not yet been announced, based on the previous North Line update, it is likely to be around 10:30 a.m.
12/16/25 pic.twitter.com/UxQH0nAP1L
— ARC Raiders (@ARCRaidersGame) December 9, 2025
Link to Twitter content
But what’s in it? It was already known that Cold Snap would introduce a limited-time event called “Flickering Flames” and snowfall as a new dynamic map condition. In addition, the upcoming update will offer a new Raider Deck (a kind of Battle Pass) and new quests.
So there won’t be a new map with the update, but it will now snow on the maps that have been released so far. And the white flakes are likely to have quite an impact. It seems that, thanks to the winter conditions, our Raiders could now freeze to death if they don’t protect themselves from the cold at regular intervals. It is not yet known whether there will be new types of clothing for this purpose.
However, the portal Sportskeeda writes that the snow will also significantly change the gameplay. Among other things, the weather severely limits visibility, making long-range combat more difficult. In addition, the snow cover makes it possible to read the tracks of other raiders and follow them. Tactically, you will have to adjust accordingly.
What does the community say?
The chances of survival may have shrunk significantly due to the harsh environmental conditions. However, the Arc Raiders community is still very excited about the announcement of Cold Snap, as evidenced by the reactions of players on social media:
Link to Twitter content
Our in-house shooter experts Phil and Jesko are also excited about the winter event, because even their absolute favorite shooter, Hunt: Showdown, has not yet managed to implement snow as a weather condition in the game. New gameplay mechanics such as tracking would be a welcome change here too – an opportunity that Arc Raiders is now seizing. However, Cold Snap marks the end of Arc Raiders’ current roadmap. How the popular multiplayer shooter will evolve in 2026 remains a mystery. As soon as a new content roadmap is revealed, we will of course let you know immediately. In the link box above, you will find more exciting news and guides about Arc Raiders.
