Arc Raiders devs tell players to chill about gear score matchmaking because it doesn't actually exist: "The focus is on maintaining the split between solos and squads"

You know when you make up a scenario in your head that's really upsetting, and it fills your heart with anguish, and it makes your palms sweat as if it were actually happening? That's sort of what Arc Raiders fans were doing recently with the possibility of gear score matchmaking – until the PvPvE game's developer Embark Studios gently snapped them out of it.

Embark representative Ossen wrote in the Arc Raiders Discord server ahead of the game's October 30 release that, "We noticed some discussions around loot or 'gear score' matchmaking. While it is true that the team has previously evaluated loot/gear-based as well as other types of matchmaking principles, right now the focus is on maintaining the split between solos and squads to keep those groups on an even playing field whenever possible." Over 6,000 heart reacts! 2,400 thumbs up!

"You just have to love proactive and transparent Devs," says one popular reaction on Reddit "Thank you embark!"

Only shortly before Embark shared its official response on Discord, Arc Raiders players were typing out jittery messages online about how they "Probably won't buy if gear-based MM is implemented."

Ossen does disclaim that "after launch, we will continue to monitor how things go." But, for now, there is no battle to win. The boogeyman doesn't exist. "The team is determined to to ensure that players have high quality rounds that are varied and interesting," Ossen says on Discord, "but fair."

After 30 million rounds and 816,162 rubber ducks, Arc Raiders celebrates successful Server Slam open beta with some prompt bug squashing: "We took immediate action."