ARC Raiders launched the "Frozen Path" update on October 8. Following the update, the game's peak concurrent players on Steam over the past 24 hours rose to 185,443, approximately 4.6 times its September monthly peak.
According to SteamDB data, the game's all-time peak concurrent players on Steam was 481,966 in January this year; the September monthly peak dropped to 39,900, with an average of around 21,000 concurrent players. During this update, Embark Studios also offered free access to the full version on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S until October 12. Current data cannot distinguish the individual impact of the update and the free trial on the player count resurgence.
"Frozen Path" introduces grappling hooks, allowing players to cross terrain gaps, reach advantageous positions, and try different movement routes near cargo docks and ARC enemies. The update also brings the snowy map Pendola Pass, new ARC enemies, weapons, outposts, research stations, and 22 missions, while adjusting the skill tree and adding a new reward pass system along with other tools.
Embark Studios stated that "Frozen Path" is one of the largest updates since the game's launch. The studio had previously abandoned its plan to release major updates monthly, switching to twice a year to allow room for more substantial changes.