Arc Raiders’ Cold Snap update (version 1.7.0) arrives on December 16, 2025, and it’s built around a new Snowfall map condition that changes how raids play out. Alongside the weather shift, the update adds new quests, a new Raider Deck, and a time-limited event called Flickering Flames.
Cold Snap release date and timing (December 16, 2025)
Cold Snap launches December 16, 2025. A specific release time hasn’t been confirmed, but recent major updates have landed in the early morning in US time zones.
Snowfall map condition: what changes during raids
The headline feature is Snowfall, a map condition that temporarily blankets parts of the existing maps in snow. It’s not a new map, but a rotating condition that shows up for limited periods.
Snowfall is designed to change the fundamentals of moving and fighting. Heavy snow reduces visibility and muffles sound, pushing fights toward closer ranges and making it easier to lose track of what’s happening beyond your immediate line of sight. It also adds a new kind of trail: player footprints in the snow, which can make tracking and counter-tracking part of the moment-to-moment play.
New quests in Speranza
Cold Snap adds additional quests from vendors back in Speranza. Expect these to lean on the new Snowfall condition, including tasks that nudge you into snowy areas rather than letting you treat the weather as background noise.
Flickering Flames event
The update also introduces Flickering Flames, an event built around completing tasks and contributing resources during raids to unlock rewards over time. It’s structured like a short event track rather than a permanent progression system, and it runs alongside the rest of the patch content.
New Raider Deck
A new Raider Deck arrives with Cold Snap. The Raider Deck functions as Arc Raiders’ seasonal reward track, where you complete Feats to earn Creds and spend them to unlock items in the deck.
This deck is expected to be a premium deck, which typically means you’ll need to buy access before you can claim everything it contains, even if unlocking individual rewards still uses in-game Creds.
How Cold Snap changes the feel of a raid
Snowfall adds risk in subtle ways. Less visibility increases the odds of surprise contact, and muted audio means you can’t rely on distant cues as much. At the same time, footprints create new information on the ground, which can punish predictable routes and reward careful movement, double-backs, and deliberate misdirection.
If you prefer to disengage rather than take a close-range fight, Snowfall can make that harder to do cleanly. Running is still an option, but it’s a louder decision in a different way, because you leave a trail.
