Embark Studios’ optional first Expedition Project for Arc Raiders prompted what the studio calls “a little over a million players” to wipe their accounts, the game’s design director Virgil Watkins told PCGamesN. Watkins estimated that “something close to about 35% or 40% of those players did get the full skill points.”
The Expedition asked players to collect and donate stash value until they reached a final threshold. Embark set the big target at five million credits for the top-tier reward. Watkins acknowledged the team could have rolled out that requirement earlier and clearer, saying the timing of the number felt sudden to many players.
“One of the bigger topics [of feedback] was the requirements for the final stage to get the skill points, and probably going out a bit too late with that information,” Watkins said. “So then, when we chose the number, which was the five million credits for the full thing, [we set] that as an aspirational goal that some players might achieve. But then I think a lot of players took that as like, ‘Well, now I have to do that to get it.’”
Watkins also admitted the process could be more engaging. “We completely acknowledge that it isn’t the most engaging thing to just go for money,” he said, and warned the current setup can “disincentivize using your gear.” Embark is looking at revisions to make the Expedition feel less grindy and more varied for players who chip away at it slowly.
The studio is digging into granular data to see how players reacted to the rewards. “We can see down to the individual pieces of rubber people donated,” Watkins said. Embark is studying players who paced themselves rather than chasing the big target to find ways to “bring a little more variety” and to “incentivize” participation in future Expeditions.
Not every raider welcomed the reset. Some questioned whether the long grind was worth the rewards, a debate covered in our earlier look at the community reaction over whether the rewards were worth the reset. Players who did opt in also received a short farewell cinematic at the end of the wipe window, which surprised some participants and got its own coverage.
For now the second Expedition keeps largely the same requirements. Per the in-game countdown on Jan. 9, 2026, Embark has 43 days until the next reset window opens. That gives the studio time to test tweaks and changes to the final-stage goals and to the way rewards are distributed.
