ARC Raiders is getting its largest content drop since launch, and Embark Studios has now set a date to show it off in full. The Frozen Trail update was teased with a short video on September 18 that showed a colossal Arc looming over a mist-covered landscape, with a Rocketeer reduced to a tiny speck beside it. A dedicated reveal follows shortly after, and the update itself lands in early October.
Quick answer: Watch The Frozen Trail First Look on YouTube on September 23 at 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT / 7 p.m. CEST). The complete update arrives October 8.
Premiere time: September 23, 2026, 10 a.m. PDT (7 p.m. CEST)
Frozen Trail First Look premiere times
Embark will stream the full Frozen Trail trailer on its official YouTube channel. The premiere runs at the same moment worldwide, so use the local conversions below to find your start time.
| Region | Time | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Pacific (PDT) | 10:00 a.m. | Sep 23 |
| Eastern (EDT) | 1:00 p.m. | Sep 23 |
| Central Europe (CEST) | 7:00 p.m. | Sep 23 |
You can watch the reveal live on the ARC Raiders YouTube channel.
What launches with Frozen Trail on October 8
Frozen Trail centers on a new map set in a frozen settlement on the edge of the Rust Belt. Embark describes a location built for greater verticality, with threats waiting both above and below ground and areas no Raiders have explored before. The teaser also showed a cold-and-snow themed outfit, matching the icy setting.
Beyond the map, the update adds new machine enemies and a fresh high-level activity. These are the confirmed additions:
- A new frozen map with more verticality and new areas to discover
- New ARC threats, including a giant machine built to stop players and a smaller, aggressive enemy
- A new ARC Operation aimed at experienced Raiders, built around teamwork, risk, and survival
- The Outpost, an upgrade to your den
- Changes to the skill tree and Raider Decks
- New weapons, gadgets, cosmetics, and instruments, plus matchmaking and anti-cheat improvements
It is not yet confirmed whether the enormous Arc from the teaser is something you can fight or simply part of the world’s backdrop. That detail, along with deeper mechanics, is expected during the First Look.
Why this is the first major update in months
In May 2026, ARC Raiders moved away from monthly patches to a new plan of at least two major updates per year. Frozen Trail is the first big release under that schedule, which explains the long gap since the last significant content drop. That gap contributed to a wave of negative feedback that pushed the game’s recent Steam reviews to “mixed.”
The update also arrives as Embark reconsiders the Expeditions system. Executive producer Aleksander Grøndal has said scrapping the whole system is on the table while the team works out its next steps. The fifth Expedition is set to be the last one until at least early 2027, and further details on that decision may surface at the premiere.
If you want the complete breakdown before the update goes live, tune into the September 23 stream. The full patch then rolls out on October 8, and restarting the game will pull the latest version once it is available.
