Arc Raiders' new event rewards friendliness over violence, but I'm just thankful it's not a PvE mode

While February's major Arc Raiders update, Shrouded Sky, is still in Embark Studios' oven, a brand new event has just rolled out with the latest patch. The Shared Watch event is all about teamwork and banding together with random raiders to take down Arc machines, leaning into a lot of the wholesome, emergent moments that have grown from the game since launch.

Arc Raiders has dealt with the PvPvE formula of extraction shooters a little differently. Sure, there's always the risk that another raider will pick you off and scamper away with your loot, but its matchmaking system takes player aggression into account - those that avoid opening fire on other players will be matched with similarly peaceful, cooperative folk. There have been a lot of calls from more casual Arc Raiders players for there to be a PvE-only mode, where players can't damage each other and are simply battling against its hostile machines. I'm glad to see that Embark hasn't caved to this so far - the risk and consistent tension, for me, contribute to it being one of the best multiplayer games around right now - but it's certainly edged closer to that reality with Shared Watch.

Running for the next two weeks, this event lets you "earn merits from destroying, assisting, and damaging Arc and earn rewards." However, "no merits will be earned from PvP encounters." It's worth noting that PvP has not been totally outlawed here. Skirmishes with other players are absolutely still possible during this event (you'll still get raider XP for eliminating players, as well as whatever loot they were carrying). However, for the next 14 days, the best way to blitz through the event's generous rewards track won't be mowing down other raiders or cashing in high-value items, it's to simply focus all of your energy (and ammunition) on the robots.

I'm also overjoyed to see that the Cold Snap map condition is returning. The snowy modifier that was in place over the course of Arc Raiders' winter event remains one of the best - not only does it change the atmosphere of maps like Blue Gate and Spaceport, but the frostbite effect constantly forces you to look for shelter. Looking at the patch notes, there appears to be no changes to Cold Snap versus what we saw over the course of the event, and bespoke items like Candleberries and Snowballs will still spawn.

Today's update also includes tweaks to the Trailblazer grenade, which I have to admit are quite disappointing given the theme of the new event. The throwable now "deals more damage to small enemies but less damage to bigger enemies such as the Leaper and Bastion" - a shame, as Trailblazers were a great option for players' loadouts when trying to take out these bigger 'bots. At least there are still lots of other solid options, like Deadline mines and Wolfpack grenades. An issue that caused Trailblazers to deal damage through walls has also been fixed, alongside several other bugs, which you can check out here.

The Shared Watch event in Arc Raiders is live right now and runs until Tuesday, February 24.

This is just speculation on my part, but it sounds like Shrouded Sky will be dropping in late February at the conclusion of Shared Watch. Maybe there'll be some overlap, but I personally doubt it. In a message on the Arc Raiders Discord, community manager 'Ossen' says that Embark "is locked on wrapping up the content for our large February update Shrouded Sky, where you'll have to brace a new threat in the storm - but more on that later!" Still, Shared Watch should keep players occupied enough until then - and its focus on taking down Arcs may come in good practice for when that "new threat" arrives.