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! One of the most fascinating things about Arc Raiders – or about PvPvE shooters more generally – are all the social dynamics fuelled by the knowledge that anyone in the lobby could hunt and loot your corpse like game or become your next virtual bestie. And while Arc Raiders' matchmaking does keep track of how prone each player is to aggression, one lead dev reckons the tension of not separating PvP and PvE enjoyers is essential to the game's winning sauce. Embark Studios CEO Patrick Soderlund last month delved a little bit into how exactly the hit game's matchmaking works, claiming "first it's skilled-based," then it checks if you're playing solo or in a group, and then it also takes into account what side of the PvPvE spectrum you fall on. Now, design director Virgil Watkins tells PC Gamer that Arc Raiders "needs that element of tension and risk from other players to be good." Hear, hear – even if you're a PvE preferer, knowing there may be another human threat out there somewhere, sometimes in your own party, is what makes matches so thrilling. PvP is the reason Arc Raiders works – love it or hate it, even Embark's design lead says it "adds the spice" Arc Raiders tester found PvE players get put in friendlier lobbies while PvP ones are sectioned to aggressive matches Arc Raiders players make a plea to Embark: don't let PvP in trios poison your solo "aggression-based" matchmaking Watkins also points out that "people are having a lot of fun with these safer lobbies," the ones full of players who fall on the Nice List in the aggression-based matchmaking algo. "I think it kind of surprised us in exactly how many people [did] latch on to and are having fun with these elements of the game," he adds. "So it certainly encourages us to lean more forward into giving opportunities to have friendly and fun interactions … but of course, we still need to cater to the PvP audience." Arc Raiders' Shrouded Sky update arrives next week, Embark confirms, but there will be "no major game update" this week to tide you over until then