Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! It's not the dedicated PvE mode that, I maintain, would actually be a terrible idea, but Arc Raiders is really leaning into PvE with a new limited-time event called Shared Watch. Quietly announced on social media channels like X/Twitter on Monday, Shared Watch will run from Tuesday, February 10 through Tuesday, February 24, giving players two weeks to engage in extra-jolly cooperation. With the subtext of, "Please stop shooting each other for 10 minutes please God," developer Embark Studios writes: "You watch my back, I'll watch yours – that's how Speranza keeps ticking. Arc Raiders' Headwinds update lands tomorrow, and theories we're getting 4-player squads aren't going well with everyone PvP is the reason Arc Raiders works – love it or hate it, even Embark's design lead says it "adds the spice" Arc Raiders' new matchmaking option is a big letdown that almost nobody will use: "Solos vs Squads" "Join your fellow Raiders in celebrating the Shared Watch; team up with strangers, turn your barrels on the machines, and earn rewards in the process." Those rewards include a new baseball umpire-themed outfit called The Slugger, it seems. Additional rewards remain to be seen, as details about the event are still a bit thin. I assume there's going to be a track of miscellaneous rewards to help distinguish this event from the new and permanent Arc trophy case, which is also about killing bots. Arc Raiders is a PvPvE game at its core, but it's ultimately about PvE. You can already team up with strangers and shoot Arc together at any time; Shared Watch just feels like a little extra incentive, and an easy way for Embark to lean into the pacifist play style that a surprisingly large portion of the community has adopted. Shared Watch does appear to be a very minor side dish, for the record. I've seen chatter around Arc Raiders adding a dedicated PvE mode, but this is not that; you can trust that PvP will still be happening in the next two weeks. That said, even as a PvP fan myself, I reckon I'll be carrying extra defibs to help some randoms. Arc Raiders boss says he'll "apologize" to Italy's Stella Montis hotel after it's flooded with reviews from players: "I didn't know about that. That's amazing."