- Primary Subject: ARC Raiders
- Key Update: Embark defends controversial “late joining” raids and claims late joiners profit more
- Status: Confirmed
- Last Verified: January 20, 2026
- Quick Answer: Embark Studios says ARC Raiders’ late joining is intentional to keep raids active, with design lead Virgil Watkins claiming internal data shows late joiners “economically profit way more,” though players argue it ruins time-sensitive objectives due to reduced raid timers.
Late joining has been one of ARC Raiders’ most controversial mechanics since launch in late October 2025, and the backlash hasn’t eased even as players have gotten more experienced.
Unlike most complaints players make, this is not an accidental bug or a balancing mistake. It is an intentional matchmaking setup that can put you into a raid that is already in progress with only 17 to 25 minutes left.
For players who value full-length raids and extended sessions, this can instantly feel like losing time you expected to have, especially if you queued with a specific plan.
This happens all the time, where you gear up for the mission with an Equalizer, Deadline mines, and a Queen hunt in mind, but you spawn far from the action with under 20 minutes remaining as early squads complete the objective first.
The same issue shows up in weekly trials and chained quests that force you to travel across the map, because if you spawn late, the system can wreck your plan before you even take your first fight, which is why some players choose to extract immediately once they realize they won’t have enough time to finish what they logged in for.
Why Does Embark Allow Players to Join Raids Late?
Even with the backlash, Embark Studios insists late joining serves a purpose, as raids would clear out too fast without it.
If every lobby began with a full 30-minute timer and no new players joined later, the match would empty out fast, and by 10 to 15 minutes in, most raids would feel quiet and uneventful.
Embark’s view is that late joining keeps raids “fresh” longer and ensures players continue to encounter threats and other raiders instead of wandering through a dead session with no tension.
However, the studio also understands why players hate it, and design lead Virgil Watkins admitted they’ve acknowledged internally that spawning in late feels awful when you’re trying to complete a time-sensitive objective.
Watkins said late joining is constantly being debated at Embark, and he acknowledged that many players load in, realize they can’t finish what they queued for, and abandon the raid.
What Did Embark Mean When They Said Late Joiners “Profit Way More”?
Watkins also introduced the most explosive part of Embark’s stance, claiming the studio’s data shows late joiners make more money on average and “economically profit way more than people who aren’t.”
Many players assume joining late means the raid is basically over and the loot is already picked clean, but Watkins says the opposite can be true because older raids naturally quiet down.
By the time late joiners load in, the raid is often calmer and less crowded, meaning they may find the aftermath of earlier skirmishes, including uncollected resources, dropped items, and discarded loot.
According to Watkins, joining a raid late can make it easier to push into high-value zones or fight larger drones, since the most intense early crowd has already dispersed.
According to Embark, late joining changes the risk-reward balance instead of punishing players, meaning you might not get your original objective but you can still profit through scavenging, opportunistic fights, and cleanup looting.
How Does Embark Design the Loot and Map Around Late Joining?
Embark also insists the game’s economy and map design are built around this reality.
Watkins explained that loot quantities, loot placement, and spawn points are tuned intentionally so players still have meaningful things to do even if they enter late.
Ideally, the studio expects late joiners to recognize that Plan A may be off the table and quickly adjust to Plan B or Plan C by looting nearby, taking fights close by, choosing safer paths, or extracting with efficient gains.
For some players, that pivot is doable, but the frustration becomes far worse when the reason you queued is something you can’t replace, such as limited-time events, key-based loot rooms on the opposite side of the map, or trials that require specific enemies or locations.
That’s why late joining can sometimes feel like a completely wasted raid slot — especially on maps where travel time is long and you burn minutes just getting across the area.
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