I jumped back into ARC Raiders this month expecting a quick warm-up, and got a reminder of how messy the game can feel right now. Matches swing between "this is why I love extraction shooters" and "why am I still here," sometimes in the same run. Still, people are clearly hungry for what's next, and the chatter around the new 2026 roadmap tease has been loud. If you're already planning to gear up for the next grind, some players are even looking to buy ARC Raiders Coins so they're not stuck scrambling when new content lands.

New biomes that won't feel copy-pasted

The most encouraging bit from the dev talk is the promise that upcoming maps won't just be familiar lanes with a new coat of paint. They've been floating ideas like volcanic zones and nasty, toxic swamp areas. That's a big deal because the current rotation teaches you habits fast. Same sightlines. Same "safe" rocks. Same predictable fights. Put people in a place where heat shimmer or murky water messes with vision and sound, and suddenly you can't autopilot your route. You'll have to scout again, argue with your squad again, and actually make calls instead of repeating a script.

Patch 1.11.0 and the end of grenade seasons

Patch 1.11.0 dropping in January is basically the devs admitting the throwable meta got out of hand. You know the vibe: you take one step into a doorway and the room turns into a fireworks show. Dialing that back should bring fights closer to what ARC Raiders does best—gunplay, movement, and those tense "do we push or bail" moments. There's a new cosmetic set too, which is fine, but it's not what most players are talking about when they log off annoyed. People don't quit because they hate their outfit. They quit because matches feel cheap or repetitive.

UI friction, event wrap-up, and the cheating problem

With the Cold Snap winter event finished, the game's rough edges stand out more. The loadout and menu flow is one of them. Building a kit shouldn't feel like doing paperwork, yet here we are—too many clicks, too many screens, too easy to miss something and load in half-prepared. A dev has already acknowledged it, so at least it's on their radar. The bigger worry is security: more reports of hackers in an extraction shooter is brutal, because you don't just lose a round, you lose your time and your gear.

What players actually want in 2026

There's also a split in what the community seems to want next. Plenty of folks love the sweaty PvP, sure, but a lot of players are asking for deeper PvE co-op extraction—more reasons to squad up, more AI pressure, more "we made it out by the skin of our teeth" stories. If the devs lean into that while fixing the basics, the game could feel healthier fast. And while everyone waits for that roadmap to become real, it's no surprise some players look for reliable ways to stock up on currency and items through services like U4GM instead of wasting time on sketchy sellers.