Arc Raiders’ fifth Expedition will be its last until early 2027

Embark Studios has confirmed that Arc Raiders‘ fifth Expedition, opening next month, will be the last one players see until early 2027.

“We have been carefully reviewing your feedback on Expeditions, and while we’ve made ongoing improvements along the way, we’ve come to realise that some of the issues you’ve raised, like the tight departure windows, the reward structure, and accessibility for new players, need more than incremental fixes,” Embark said in a blog post. “They call for bigger changes.”

The update added: “In order to address those concerns, we need to pause the Expeditions for a while. The fifth Expedition will be the last one until early 2027, when Expeditions will return with major improvements, tackling some of the biggest player pain points. So, if you’ve been on the fence about departing – now is the time! We will share more details on what those changes will look like in September.”

The Expedition Window opens on 8th September and closes on 29th September, giving three weeks rather than the previous two. Quest progress reset, previously mandatory, is now opt-in for players who’d rather keep their quest line going than start over, though the Hullcracker Blueprint (normally tied to that quest line) will need an alternative route to unlock as a result.

There’s also no “last call” feature this time, so anyone wanting to depart needs to sign up during the window itself rather than relying on a grace period.

Rewards for completing the Expedition include the full Zenith Outfit, mystery rewards, and up to 12 extra stash space, capped at 60 overall. Bonus skill points now cap at 15, with catch-up still available for players missing points from earlier Expeditions. Consecutive buffs like the XP boost, Scrappy materials boost, and repair value increase are capped at three stacked levels.

“During the pause period, any of the consecutive buffs you have earned will persist so no progress is lost,” the team added.

“If you have completed all five Expeditions, the Zenith Outfit will be fully unlocked. Also, since Caravans will be reset, any partially completed Caravans will be replaced with Ermal Vouchers of equal value which can be used to purchase Ermal offers together with ARC Parts and firearms trade, or sold for Coin.”

Trials, meanwhile, are having a shorter break of their own. The current season ends on 22nd September, with the mode returning on 8th October.

Eurogamer’s Arc Raiders review awarded it two out of five stars. We said: “Rich PvE combat and an unusually friendly community make Arc Raiders a more approachable extraction shooter than most, but Embark Studios’ continued use of AI voice generation is a black mark against its reputation”.

Last month, Arc Raiders introduced a feature players have long requested – the ability to track your playstyle separately for its different matchmaking pools, Solo, Duo, and Trio.