A new update has changed quite a bit in Arc Raiders, and many fans clearly aren’t happy about it. The shooter is receiving a lot of negative reviews on Steam, and there’s also discussion on Reddit.
About six months after its release, Arc Raiders is actually doing well: On Steam, 85 percent of the reviews are positive, and the shooter is racking up Battlefield 6.
Arc Raiders recently received a major update with Riven Tides, which introduced a new map, enemies, items, and an event to the game. However, the developers seem to have put their foot in it with this patch.
No Enthusiasm in Sight
Immediately after the update, several thousand negative reviewspoured in on Steam. The reviews from the last 30 days are categorized asMixed
,just 62 percentgive it a thumbs-up. The update also hasn’t led to a noticeable increase in player numbers, as is often the case with service games.
Compared to the reviews submitted since release, this is of course just a drop in the bucket: 85 percent of the nearly 300,000 Steam reviews are still positive. However, the community’s discontent isn’t limited to Steam.
What’s the Problem?/h2
The update is being hotly debated on Reddit. Some playersvehemently defend the new content and changeswhile others are very unhappy with them. There are several issues causing frustration:
- Thedurability of weaponsin the three lower rarity tiers has been massively reduced. In return, the durability of ultra-rare weapons has been improved.Players complain that they had actually only wanted a buff for the most valuable weapons.
- Thenew mapis also disappointing some fans, as it is smaller than expected.
- ThePhotoelectric Cloak, which makes the user invisible for a short time, has also been nerfed. Fans consider the nerf inappropriate.
- Especially in the German Steam reviews, there are frequent calls for aPVE mode. Players are complaining about the increasing presence of players who specifically hunt others. So this is more about what’s missing from the new update.
The changes to weapon durability are by far the most controversial. The game’s subreddit is filled with numerous threads with thousands of upvotes discussing the topic (for example
hereandhere).
But, as mentioned earlier: Not everyone views the changes in the update as entirely negative; some fans are also urging caution:
The truth about every live-service game that has ever existed and will ever exist is that […] games go through good times and bad times. Service games always have to change and add things, and that means balance and gameplay never stay the same, and you can’t please everyone. Arc Raiders will do well in the long run.
Currently, however, the mood in the Arc Raiders community has taken a hit. The development studio Embark has not yet commented on the controversial changes. It is, of course, possible that the changes to weapon durability, for example, will be toned down via a patch. However, the first hotfix for the major update did not include anything of the sort.
