Arc Raiders is finally getting a PvE mode, but only in China

Arc Raiders is reportedly trialling a pseudo-PvE mode on its co-Tencent-developed Chinese client. The multiplayer game recently acquired the ISBN licence required to operate in China, and the Eastern branch is wasting no time in shaking up the status quo, offering new game modes during its beta phase.

The new map condition being tested on the Chinese client is called Rebellion Mechanic, and it's as close to a pure PvE mode as we'll likely ever get. All players enter the match with a tenuous agreement in place; you're allies, don't kill each other. Any player who breaks this agreement and attacks another is marked on the map for everyone to see.

It's PvE with that classic social Arc Raiders engineering - I could, in theory, go in with betrayal on my mind, but doing so puts a huge target on my back. Those in the so-called Carebear lobbies have a strong sense of justice, so you better believe that if a Raider is marked as a rebel, they'll be hunted to the ends of the Rust Belt.

This mode is only being trialled in China, and since it's co-developed by Tencent and separate to the main game, there's no saying whether this Rebellion Mechanic will ever see the light of day on our side of the pond. I think it's a unique way of giving players the option of a less-stressful run while maintaining what Arc Raiders is. It doesn't remove the threat of violence altogether - it just adds steeper consequences.

The PvE/PvE war wages on in Arc Raiders to this very day, and even after a round of mythbusting, the lines are blurred as to what players should be doing when they encounter another Raider in a match. This isn't a game with clear, defined lines in the sand; it's a mess of obscured intentions and tense encounters. Allowing players to operate under a more standardized set of moral guidelines could reduce friction for those who want to play a certain way, and personally, I'm all for it.