Clearing up months of speculation, Arc Raiders developer Embark Studios released a detailed breakdown of how the game’s matchmaking works alongside an update packing two major changes to that system.
These matchmaking changes are “live now,” and Embark will “keep tuning” as players respond to them.
This is Embark once again dismantling the idea of friendly or PvP lobbies. “Our system tries to place you with players who sit closer to you on that scale, while still keeping Topside from becoming completely predictable,” it says.
As such, you are more “likely” to be matched with players who are close to you on the playstyle distribution graph, which Embark visualizes using “cooperative, mixed, and PvP-focused” styles. If you’re over in cooperative camp, the bloodthirsty PvP players are an “unlikely” but never impossible match.
Embark stresses that “your behavior shapes your future lobbies – gradually,” not as a result of individual rounds or knee-jerk punishments. This sets up a list of myths, many of which still circulate among players, regarding matchmaking and ways to game it.
Here’s the full list of Arc Raiders matchmaking myths that Embark has shut down.
- “There are not only two kinds of lobbies – friendly and aggressive”
- “One shot or kill does not immediately put you in ‘PvP-focused’ lobbies”
- “There are no ‘PvE-only’ lobbies/servers where other Raiders will never attack you”
- “Your end-of-round feedback does not affect matchmaking”
- “Your loadout does not affect matchmaking”
- “Patches and updates don’t reset your matchmaking profile”
- “Looting knocked-out players doesn’t affect your matchmaking”
- “We don’t matchmake based only on the squad leader”
- “Turning crossplay on or off does not impact the level of cooperation / PvP in the round”
I know from experience that it’s easy to fall into some of these theories, either because you unwittingly look for confirmation or you overestimate a string of coincidences. Turning off crossplay is (or certainly was) common advice among PC players looking to avoid the scourge of barbaric console players, for instance. It’s also hilarious to me to have confirmation that my history of violence is, in fact, dragging my pacifist friend into a warzone when we play together, no matter who leads the squad.
The stated goal for Arc Raiders matchmaking is to avoid removing danger from lobbies, or making them too predictable, while also nudging like-minded players toward each other. As production director Caigo Braga told us last month, “players shouldn’t feel fully safe,” but they shouldn’t all be dragged into intense firefights every match either.
Arc Raiders devs know everyone just uses the Survivor augment, so they’re buffing “underperforming” options to make loadouts more interesting.
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