Skip to main content
Join The Community
- Join our community
11
Premium Benefits
24/7
Access Available
21K+
Active Members
Commenting
Join the discussion
Exclusive Articles Coming Soon
Member-only articles
Weekly Newsletters
Weekly gaming & entertainment news
Member Badges
Earn badges as you go
Exclusive Competitions
Members-only prize draws
Curated Deals Coming Soon
Tech and gaming deals worth grabbing
GET COMMUNITY ACCESS QUICK
For the quickest way to join, simply enter your email below and get access. We will send a confirmation and sign you up to our newsletter to keep you updated on all your gaming news.
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
FIND OUT ABOUT OUR MAGAZINE
Want to subscribe to the magazine? Click the button below to find out more information.
Find out more
GET Community ACCESS QUICK

Join the GamesRadar community for quick access. Enter your email below and we'll send confirmation, and sign you up to our newsletter.

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Background
Welcome to GamesRADAR+ Community !
Hi ,

Your membership journey starts here.

Keep exploring and earning more as a member.

MY ACCOUNT

Badge picture
Earn your first badge
Read 1 article to unlock your first badge.
Keep earning badges
Explore ways to get more involved as a member.
Latest Games News

Latest Games News

Breaking gaming news and updates

Read Now
Latest Games Reviews

Latest Games Reviews

Expert verdicts on the newest releases

Read Now

See what you’ve unlocked.

Explore your membership benefits.

Explore
Member Exclusives

Stay Ahead with GamesRadar+

Get the biggest gaming news, reviews, and releases straight to your inbox.

Explore

Sign Out
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • Big Preview
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Total Film
  • home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • Big Preview
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • View Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
    • View Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Total Film
Trending
  • Crimson Desert
  • Arc Raiders
  • The Boys S5
  • Best turn-based RPGs
  • Submit your clips. Win prizes
Don't miss these
Arc Raiders player holding a gun in red light
Third Person Shooters Arc Raiders studio contacted by crime scientist "intrigued by how players are interacting"
Arc Raiders Wasp Hunter armor set with yellow leather
Third Person Shooters "Players shouldn't feel fully safe" in Arc Raiders even in friendly lobbies, lead dev says
Arc Raiders screenshot of player running from a Leaper robot
Third Person Shooters Arc Raiders' killer robots aren't learning in real time, but Embark will sneak in AI upgrades
Arc Raiders Bastion chasing a player
Third Person Shooters Best Arc Raiders weapons and meta tier list (April 2026)
Arc Raiders character holding golden sledgehammer on dark blue starry background
Third Person Shooters Arc Raiders lead says a "prominent professor in neurology" encouraged him to submit the extraction shooter to science
Arc Raiders characters standing together
Third Person Shooters Arc Raiders devs now force themselves to act nice in playtests to understand friendly players
Arc Raiders characters drinking at a bar
Third Person Shooters As Arc Raiders gets stale for some, dev says players "reaching the end of our content" are a focus
Arc Raiders Queen robot firing a blue laser
Third Person Shooters Arc Raiders devs would love to have machine takedowns "like the Hoth invasion scene in Star Wars"
The Last of Us 2
Third Person Shooters Arc Raiders lead was surprised The Last of Us players liked the game, just not "PvP all the time"
Arc Raiders characters with shotgun and revolver
Third Person Shooters Arc Raiders devs love the self-described sheriffs of PvP: "Those are some of the better moments"
Arc Raiders character holding golden sledgehammer on dark blue starry background
Third Person Shooters 10 Arc Raiders tips for securing safe victory and epic loot
Arc Raiders Dolabra
Third Person Shooters How to get the Legendary Dolabra in Arc Raiders
Arc Raiders best weapons
Third Person Shooters The Arc in Arc Raiders have multiple "brains," and they all love pursuing you because Embark gives them "rewards"
Arc Raiders Flashpoint
Third Person Shooters Everything in the the Arc Raiders Flashpoint update
Arc Raiders
Third Person Shooters Arc Raiders "needs that element of tension and risk" from PvP, but Embark knows people are loving its "safer lobbies"
  1. Games
  2. Third Person Shooters
  3. Arc Raiders

Arc Raiders adding Legendary guns aimed at PvP is "completely possible," but Embark bans any "one-shot" kills: "I think that gameplay is deeply boring"

News
By Anthony McGlynn published 28 January 2026

Don't expect to be ploughing through enemies

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Arc Raiders raider in a pilot helmet looks at the camera in a sunlit forest
(Image credit: Embark Studios)
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Share this article
1
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more


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?

GamesRadar+

Every Friday

GamesRadar+

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.

GTA 6 O'clock

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.

Knowledge

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.

The Setup

Every Thursday

The Setup

Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.

Switch 2 Spotlight

Every Wednesday

Switch 2 Spotlight

Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.

The Watchlist

Every Saturday

The Watchlist

Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.

SFX

Once a month

SFX

Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!


Join the club

Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.


An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Subscribe to our newsletter

The 2026 roadmap has already brought considerable change to Arc Raiders, bringing an invasion of birds, more modes, and two new Epic augments. In an interview with Embark Studios, we raised the question of creating another set of weapons, to continue ramping up the extraction shooter, and apparently it's not out of the realm of possibility.

"I think that's completely possible," Virgil Watkins, design lead on Arc Raiders, tells GamesRadar+ on the possibility of getting legendary guns. "But the way guns are relative to each other, that's where we have to be quite careful, and that's why we deliberately did things like that with the Hullcracker and the Equalizer."

Watkins can see the desire to enhance the raider-on-raider scuffles, but he's "very staunchly" sticking to one rule: "There should never be a one-shot situation if you're wearing a shield and have full health. I think that gameplay is deeply boring, to just be deleted in an instant, in our type of game."

Article continues below
You may like
  • Arc Raiders player in heavy rain with shield shorting out Arc Raiders apparently had a legendary weapon "intended" for PvP all along, but it was so bad nobody noticed
  • Arc Raiders Bastion chasing a player Best Arc Raiders weapons and meta tier list (April 2026)
  • Arc Raiders raider in a pilot helmet looks at the camera in a sunlit forest Arc Raiders answers the community's prayers: new Epic looting Augment lets you put weapons in your safe pocket
YouTube YouTube
Watch On

He definitely has a point. One-shotting gets old fast, and you can create a hierarchy that punishes those who don’t play as much without meaning to if the balance is off kilter too much.

"If we were to do something that is substantially stronger in PvP, it needs to come with the appropriate price tag, running costs, risk," he adds. "I'm not in any way against players having that spike in power and feeling very cool for a moment. But it can't be like, I unlocked this thing and now I just win fights."

He gives an example of the heavy shield during Tech Test 2, where it made people more or less unstoppable for a considerable length of time. If such power is attainable, it needs to be quite restrained. For now, the Arc Raiders playerbase isn't calling out for such things, but who knows where we’ll be later in the year.

Arc Raiders players have found a real-life Stella Montis in Italy, and they're leaving hilarious reviews: "The Shredders are a bit of a nuisance"

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
CATEGORIES
PC Gaming PS5 Xbox Series X Platforms PlayStation Xbox
Anthony McGlynn
Anthony McGlynn
Social Links Navigation
Contributing Writer

Anthony is an Irish entertainment and games journalist, now based in Glasgow. He previously served as Senior Anime Writer at Dexerto and News Editor at The Digital Fix, on top of providing work for Variety, IGN, Den of Geek, PC Gamer, and many more. Besides Studio Ghibli, horror movies, and The Muppets, he enjoys action-RPGs, heavy metal, and pro-wrestling. He interviewed Animal once, not that he won’t stop going on about it or anything.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

Read more
Arc Raiders player in heavy rain with shield shorting out
Third Person Shooters Arc Raiders apparently had a legendary weapon "intended" for PvP all along, but it was so bad nobody noticed
 
 
Arc Raiders Bastion chasing a player
Third Person Shooters Best Arc Raiders weapons and meta tier list (April 2026)
 
 
Arc Raiders raider in a pilot helmet looks at the camera in a sunlit forest
Third Person Shooters Arc Raiders answers the community's prayers: new Epic looting Augment lets you put weapons in your safe pocket
 
 
Arc Raiders pink survivor bag
Third Person Shooters If you want to keep some blueprints in Arc Raiders after each Expedition, it's not "off the table," but it is "tricky"
 
 
Arc Raiders
Third Person Shooters Arc Raiders testers told Embark "they didn't like the PvP" after the game pivoted, and looting wasn't any better
 
 
Arc Raiders cover art with three raiders
Third Person Shooters "It's emboldened us to keep going": Arc Raiders dev dives deep on bigger updates and learning from players
 
 
Latest in Third Person Shooters
Arc Raiders characters drinking at a bar
Third Person Shooters Arc Raiders players hate the new Expedition system, which requires you to play on 5 specific days
 
 
Arc Raiders Bastion chasing a player
Third Person Shooters Arc Raiders makes huge Expedition changes, bonus skill points now free but earned by dealing damage
 
 
Third Person Shooters The Division was originally "an MMO with World of Warcraft-style gameplay," devs reveal
 
 
Arc Raiders screenshot of player running from a Leaper robot
Third Person Shooters Arc Raiders' killer robots aren't learning in real time, but Embark will sneak in AI upgrades
 
 
Arc Raiders player holding a gun in red light
Third Person Shooters Arc Raiders studio contacted by crime scientist "intrigued by how players are interacting"
 
 
Black Cat in Marvel Rivals.
Third Person Shooters Black Cat joins Marvel Rivals, says "good boy" in her reveal trailer, and it's all been downhill from there, folks
 
 
Latest in News
Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark in The Hunger Games taken from the official Hunger Games Twitter page
Sci-Fi Movies Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson addresses Peeta's "silly" rock camouflage scene: "Why didn't someone stop it?"
 
 
Toph in Avatar: The Last Airbender
Animated Movies OG Avatar actor tells fans to "stop talking" about The Last Airbender movie leak and "watch it when it comes out"
 
 
Chris Evans as Captain America in Avengers: Endgame
Marvel Movies Avengers: Endgame re-release will include Doomsday footage and be a "critical companion story"
 
 
Windrose early access release trailer screenshot shows a male pirate wearing a bandana on his head, facing the camera.
Open World Games Windrose sells 1 million copies in less than a week, passes 220,000 concurrent Steam players
 
 
Lev and Yara
Drama Shows The Last of Us season 3's latest casting hints at a chunkier backstory for Yara and Lev
 
 
Grandpa Gohan in Sparking Zero
Fighting Games Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero's next DLC will add over 30 characters, including the biggest omissions from the roster
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. Toph in Avatar: The Last Airbender
    1
    OG Avatar actor tells fans to "stop talking" about The Last Airbender movie leak and "watch it when it comes out"
  2. 2
    Avengers: Endgame re-release will include Doomsday footage and be a "critical companion story"
  3. 3
    Windrose sells 1 million copies in less than a week, and as the open-world pirate game passes 220,000 concurrent Steam players, devs say the support is "absolutely astonishing"
  4. 4
    Jon Favreau explains how The Mandalorian and Grogu's unlikely Martin Scorsese cameo came to be
  5. 5
    Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero's next DLC will add over 30 characters, and Shenron is finally answering my wish by fixing the biggest problem with the original roster

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • Terms and conditions
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...