Arc Raiders studio planned for fewer players ahead of Frozen Trail
Embark Studios accepted a player-count decline before the Frozen Trail update, executive producer Aleksander Grøndal said in an interview.
Embark Studios expected Arc Raiders to lose concurrent and daily players before the Frozen Trail update and shipped the content anyway, executive producer Aleksander Grøndal said in an interview with gamesradar.com.
Grøndal said the ongoing discussion about the game's player numbers "does not feel great," but that the studio accepted having fewer players for a period of time.
Frozen Trail is positioned as a relaunch for Arc Raiders after several quiet months. Embark intends to release a batch of content on the scale of Frozen Trail roughly every six months.
A return to a six-month cadence
According to Grøndal, the development team wanted to return to a rhythm of delivering one big test every six months, then following it with fixes and a reevaluation before the next drop.
Arc Raiders had a large launch, and in 2025 the game joined the titles regularly tracked on Steam Charts as its player count declined.
Quick answers
What is the Frozen Trail update in Arc Raiders?
Frozen Trail is described as a relaunch-sized content update for Arc Raiders, released after several quieter months for the game.
How often will Arc Raiders get big updates?
Embark Studios plans to release a Frozen Trail-sized batch of content roughly every six months, followed by fixes and a reevaluation.
Did Embark Studios know Arc Raiders player counts would drop?
According to executive producer Aleksander Grøndal, the studio anticipated a decline in concurrent and daily players before the Frozen Trail update and proceeded with it anyway.