If you have been waiting for an excuse to try ARC Raiders, Embark Studios is about to hand you a free one. The extraction shooter goes free-to-play from October 8 (09:00 UTC) to October 12 (08:00 UTC) across Steam, PlayStation and Xbox — timed to the launch of Frozen Trail, the game’s biggest update since launch.
And it is the full experience, not a trimmed demo: “Free play will grant access to the full ARC Raiders game, so you can try out the award-winning extraction adventure before you buy,” Embark wrote on its blog. “It’s the perfect chance to invite your friends to team up against the ARC, scavenge what you can, and extract to safety.”
Frozen Trail: The Biggest Update Yet
Frozen Trail goes live the same day, and Embark is not underselling it. The expansion-sized update adds a massive new map, several new ARC enemies and new weapons and gadgets, alongside the shooter’s first major overhaul of the metagame — with tweaks to ammo and crafting and a more conventional battle pass. The update was first revealed in late September with its new map, four ARC enemy types and personal outposts.
The new Pendola Pass map is included in the free trial too. It still needs to be unlocked through level progression — or you can shortcut the queue by having a friend who has already unlocked it invite you into their squad.
A Second Chance for a Launch Hit
The free weekend is clearly a net cast for lapsed and curious players. ARC Raiders had an explosive launch, but the game has since fallen out of favor with much of its audience — and as Eurogamer notes, Frozen Trail changes enough of the core game that Embark likely sees it as the best possible entry point for newcomers.
There is more immediately after the free window closes: a PvE test runs October 13 to 20, disabling player-versus-player damage entirely. It formalizes ARC Raiders’ famously friendly lobbies — and answers the players who have asked for a no-PvP way to play since launch. Whether you drop in for free this week or wait for the PvE test, there has never been a better moment to see what all the extraction fuss is about.