Arc Raiders just nuked a Steam Family Sharing exploit that let banned players continue to terrorize lobbies

Arc Raiders developer Embark Studios has confirmed it has closed a loophole that "suspended accounts could exploit" to keep playing the extraction shooter while banned. While there's no actual patch or content update to speak of for the game this week, this announcement is a decent consolation prize, as tackling cheaters and bad actors has become a high priority for Embark.

I'm still in disbelief at how Arc Raiders' huge player numbers (on Steam at least) have stayed incredibly stable since launch - massive spikes aren't that uncommon for multiplayer games, but it's rare to see one not go through the obligatory decline once the hype burns out.

However, if I look at my totally reliable, scientifically sound Sentiment-O-Meter, I sense a slight souring to Arc Raiders recently, mainly from top-level players and influencers that grind it more than most. A big reason for that is cheaters, and Embark Studios has recently been stepping up when it comes to fighting back against them. It's just taken another promising step by closing up this Steam Family Sharing exploit, but admittedly, it's the kind of thing that should've been thought of in the first place.

"In our ongoing continuous efforts to make Arc Raiders a more fair experience for all raiders, we have just made changes to how Steam Family Sharing works for suspended accounts," Embark's community manager 'Ossen' says in a message on the game's Discord server. "Up until now, suspended accounts could exploit Steam Family Sharing to avoid account suspensions, making their way back to Speranza to continue their illegitimate play. This change prevents that by ensuring that if an account is suspended, all accounts associated with that account through Steam Family Sharing are also automatically suspended as well."

An additional FAQ post shared by Ossen also confirms that simply removing the banned players from a Steam Family group will not unban the other members of that group. Once one person gets a suspension, it's applied to everyone in that Steam Family at the same time.

While this is great news, it does feel like the kind of exploit that should've been thought about much earlier. In Embark's defense, Arc Raiders certainly isn't alone in being caught out by Steam Family Sharing - a recent example that springs to mind is Dune Awakening. But it's still likely been a contributing factor in those grumbles about cheaters ruining the experience for many players. At least the matter's been put to bed now.