As roughly one-in-ten Arc Raiders players reset their characters, Embark Studios is looking for new ways to incentivise expeditions

With the first expedition window for Arc Raiders concluded in December, Embark Studios has revealed that just over a million players opted in to reset their characters in exchange for various rewards. Having sold over 12m copies according to analyst estimates, that's under 10 percent of all players.

Expeditions, for those unaware, allow players to send off their levelled up character (alongside all the goodies stored in their stash) off on a grand adventure. In return your account gets cosmetics, an XP boost on your next character, expanded stash space, and for those able to gather up to five million credits additional skill points above the cap on their next character. A powerful boon!

In an interview with PCGamesN, design director Virgil Watkins stated that of that roughly one million players, around 35-40 percent of them managed to scrape together the five million credits required for the full spread of skill point boosts during the expedition window.

Watkins also shared learnings from the game's first expedition window, stating: "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, because we wanted to hold off until we could calibrate it around the actual economy of the player base, rather than trying to guess really early on.

"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.'"

With just over a month until the next expedition window, it looks like the next opportunity for a reset will work largely in the same fashion as this initial run, though as PCGamesN points out changes to the final rush for credits can absolutely change. Watkins said that the team is looking at ways to "bring a little more variety" to the system, poring over player data.

Arc Raiders, unlike many other extraction games, have an opt-in reset mechanic rather than a forced progression wipe. As such, those not especially concerned with extra stash space or a few extra skill points don't have to worry about it too much. Given how hard it can be to build up a hoard of loot, one wanders if casual Arc Raiders players will be inclined to cash it all in for such bonuses.

Arc Raiders itself appears to be maintaining momentum going into 2026, with Hollywood seemingly keen to chat about a theatrical adaptation of some sort. Thanks to its cheaper price point, and some well-timed holiday discounts, it doesn't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.