Arc Raiders players predictably tried to rig matchmaking by lying in post-match surveys, but Embark says those don't do a darn thing: "We get really weird graphs that don't match up with what we're seeing"
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Scott McCrae
2026-02-22
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Embark Studios design director Virgil Watkins says the end of match survey in Arc Raiders won't affect future matchmaking like some players think.
Matchmaking is always a contentious thing in any online game, especially within the shooter community. And as such, there's always a section of players who want to figure out the fine details and optimize who they get paired with in their favor. This led to a rumor emerging that how you react in the post-game survey could effect the type of players you get paired up with in the future, but from the sounds of things it seems to be more a case of confirmation bias for anyone who did see a difference.
Speaking to PC Gamer, Watkins was asked about the end-of-game surveys and how much weight they have in the game's matchmaking, responding, "Zero factor." He explains, "Those are just to help us gauge how players felt about the round. They have no mechanical change on what happens to you. It is solely based on your actions in the round. Those just go to our data team and help us pair up like things that occurred in the server."
Arc Raiders dev says "we do analyze behavior and match accordingly," so maybe start playing nice
Arc Raiders players make a plea to Embark: don't let PvP in trios poison your solo "aggression-based" matchmaking
While playing Arc Raiders, Embark leads clarify they only added true "aggression-based" matchmaking fairly recently
In fact, it sounds like the surveys overall haven't exactly been helpful to Embark, as Watkins adds, "that—and I understand why this sort of myth emerged—really messed with a lot of our PvP sentiment metrics." He explains the survey "was meant to gauge 'of the PvP that occurred to you. Was it good?' Not, 'do you even like PvP or not?' So then we get really weird graphs that don't match up with what we're seeing." So from the sounds of things, the only thing that actually effects your matchmaking in Arc Raiders is how you play, which is pretty standard.
Arc Raiders devs love the self-described sheriffs of PvP, even if they do kill the wrong people sometimes: "Those are some of the better moments"
binaryDuck
Feb 22, 10:02 PM
omg #Generally okay I made it. Unusually slow.
softSpaghetti
Feb 22, 09:02 PM
really bad. 😭*
mildlyGlitched
Feb 22, 08:02 PM
Could be worse.
mysticPigeon
Feb 22, 05:12 PM
rad
tinyPotato
Feb 22, 04:12 PM
hahahaha Shockingly deep.
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