Few topics in the Arc Raiders community have generated as much speculation, debate, and outright argument as matchmaking. Since the game launched in October 2025, players have suspected that their in-raid behavior — specifically how aggressively they engage with other players — directly influences the kind of lobbies they're placed in. The community branded it "aggression-based matchmaking" (ABMM), and it took weeks of theorizing, player experiments, and YouTube investigations before Embark Studios finally confirmed the system exists.
What followed was a cascade of developer statements — some contradicting each other — across multiple interviews and outlets. This article compiles every confirmed statement from Embark staff members, organized chronologically and by source, so you have a single point of reference for what the developers have actually said.
Timeline — How the Story Unfolded
Robert Sammelin — The First Confirmation
Role: Art Director, Embark Studios
Outlet: PC Gamer (interview at The Game Awards)
Date: December 12, 2025
Sammelin was the first Embark employee to publicly acknowledge the system. In an interview with PC Gamer's Tim Clark and Evan Lahti, he was asked directly about whether behavior influenced matchmaking following weeks of community speculation.
"Without going into excruciating detail, it is quite complex. We do analyse behaviour and match accordingly."
Sammelin declined to elaborate further, and PC Gamer noted that the subject of matchmaking "has been kept quiet for most of Arc Raiders' life." However, this was enough for the community — and for outlets like FRVR, Insider Gaming, and TheGamer — to confirm that behavioral tracking was indeed part of the matchmaking pipeline.
In the same interview cycle, Sammelin also commented on the broader player dynamics the system was designed to support:
"We got some figures on how many people have been downed by another player, and they were surprisingly low. But there's also quite a different experience in playing with a squad or solo. I think that also opens up for a very different experience, depending on how you choose to engage with the game."
Sammelin also noted that different maps tend to attract different behaviors, with some maps naturally geared more toward PvP encounters.
Patrick Söderlund — The Full Reveal
Role: CEO & Founder, Embark Studios
Outlet: GamesBeat (live gameplay interview with Dean Takahashi)
Date: January 3, 2026
The definitive confirmation came when Söderlund sat down for a gameplay session streamed live with GamesBeat's Dean Takahashi. Playing Arc Raiders in real time, Söderlund laid out the matchmaking system in explicit terms for the first time.
"Obviously, first it's skill-based, of course. Then you have solos, duos, and trios. And then also, since a week ago or so, we introduced a system where we also matchmake based on how prone you are to PvP or PvE."
When Takahashi mentioned that a player had asked him directly about aggression-based matchmaking, Söderlund responded without hesitation:
"That's exactly what it is."
Söderlund went further, explaining why the system was necessary:
"A game like this, we knew from the beginning that we were going to get some [aggressive players]. Especially as the game has gotten big, that's a problem."
He also elaborated on how it shapes the player experience for less aggressive users:
"So if your preference is to do PvE and you have less conflict with players… you'll get more matched up [with similar players]. Obviously, it's not a full science."
Söderlund's description outlined a three-layer matchmaking system, which he presented in this order of priority:
Virgil Watkins — Clarifications & Corrections
Role: Design Lead (also referred to as Design Director), Embark Studios
Outlet: GamesRadar+
Date: ~January 10, 2026
Following the wave of community reaction to Söderlund's statements, Watkins sat down with GamesRadar+ to clarify the system in detail. His interview is the most technically descriptive account we have from Embark, and it notably corrects several points from the CEO's earlier comments.
"Aggression-Based" Is a Misnomer
"It's a bit of a misnomer calling it aggression-based, and it is something we're going to keep tuning, but people aren't far off in how they think it works."
The System Tracks Actions, Not Intent
Watkins provided the most specific description of what the system actually measures:
"We can track who shoots first and who takes damage and who [does] whatever. But the one thing the system does not do is attempt to assume intent. If I'm a very bad player and you're a good player, and I'm the aggressor and I just miss all my shots and you defend yourself, the game doesn't know what the intent was."
No Moral Judgments — Just Data
"We don't make any value or moral judgments. It's not the game judging you for your actions. It's purely around, just, are you engaging in PvP at all?"
It's a "Blunt Instrument"
"So it's a bit of a blunt instrument, which is why we're continuing to add and tune what we do with it. So we have a ton of data to work with for now, seeing how the matches go and where those players are matched up."
It's a Weighted System, Not Binary
"If you really want to try to adjust and play in a bit of a less hostile environment, you are afforded [a way] to do so. But it should be clear to people, I hope, that it's also not binary. Obviously, you can tell it's weighted one way or the other, but it's never like, you are now only with PvE players, you are now only with PvP players. It's a weighted system. There's a lot of layers to it, so it's not quite so A/B as people might assume."
A Rating System — Not Categories
"It's really just this kind of rating system we have that maneuvers, and we're just going to keep monitoring match health and player response, and tune it from there."
How the System Actually Works
Based on every developer statement combined, here is what we can confirm about how the behavior-based matchmaking system operates in Arc Raiders:
- The system tracks player behavior across raids, specifically engagement in PvP
- It can detect who shoots first and who takes damage
- Players who engage in more PvP are weighted toward lobbies with more PvP-prone players
- Players who avoid PvP are weighted toward less hostile lobbies
- It operates on a spectrum/gradient — not a binary PvP-or-PvE split
- There will always be a mix of player types in any lobby
- The system was implemented as a backend update in late December 2025 (though some behavioral tracking existed earlier)
- Post-match surveys may feed additional data into the system
- It uses a "rating" that shifts over time based on sustained behavior
- There are additional unknown weighting factors beyond raw PvP engagement
What It Does Not Do
- It does not assume the intent behind your actions (self-defense is treated the same as aggression)
- It does not make moral or value judgments about player behavior
- It does not use gear-based matchmaking (confirmed by Watkins)
- It does not use skill-based matchmaking (Watkins contradicted Söderlund — see below)
- It does not create fully PvP-only or PvE-only lobbies
- It does not display a visible aggression score to players
- It is not an exact or complete science — Embark acknowledges it is still being refined
The SBMM Contradiction
One of the most notable takeaways from the developer statements is a direct contradiction between the CEO and the Design Lead regarding skill-based matchmaking.
| Speaker | Statement on SBMM | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Söderlund (CEO) | "Obviously, first it's skill-based, of course." | Jan 3, 2026 |
| Watkins (Design Lead) | "We don't do anything like skill-based matchmaking or gear-based matchmaking." | ~Jan 10, 2026 |
This is a significant discrepancy. Söderlund described SBMM as the primary matchmaking layer. Approximately one week later, Watkins — who is directly responsible for the game's design systems — flatly denied that any form of SBMM exists in Arc Raiders. As the person closer to the actual implementation, Watkins' account is generally considered the more authoritative statement on technical specifics.
This means that new players can potentially be matched against experienced players with endgame-level gear. The only behavioral filter influencing lobby composition is the aggression/PvP-engagement rating, combined with party size separation and any additional unknown weighting factors that Embark has not disclosed.
The Solo vs. Trios Debate
One of the biggest community controversies following the ABMM confirmation has been whether aggression scores carry across different queue modes. Many players enjoy playing aggressively in trios with their squad but prefer peaceful solo runs. If the system uses a single global rating, aggressive trio behavior could land you in hostile solo lobbies.
Embark has not made a definitive public statement on whether ratings are tracked separately per queue type. However, the community concern has been loud and clear — a Reddit post titled "Your aggression in trio should not affect your solo queue" accumulated nearly 9,000 upvotes in days.
What Watkins has said is that the system has "a lot of layers to it" and that "there's a lot of weighting in the matchmaking system that players do not know about." This could imply some form of mode separation, but nothing has been explicitly confirmed or denied.
Can You Game the System?
Watkins was asked directly whether Embark is worried about players manipulating the system to get placed into peaceful PvE lobbies. His response was surprisingly relaxed:
"At present, I think we're kind of okay with the fact that you have some agency over the situation."
He described players trying to game the system as simply "part of the experience" of making an online game. However, he cautioned that the system is more complex than most players assume, suggesting that simple strategies like "surrender a few times" may not be as effective as the community believes.
Söderlund's earlier characterization supports this: the system "is not an exact science" and behavior changes would need to be sustained over time to shift your rating. A single peaceful run after a killing spree is unlikely to reset anything.
- Running multiple peaceful raids focused on PvE/looting
- Surrendering several times in a row with free loadouts
- Answering post-match surveys indicating preference for less PvP
- Estimated community figure: ~10-15 peaceful runs to offset a single aggressive session (varies widely by report)
The Future of ABMM
Every Embark staff member who has discussed the system has emphasized that it will continue to evolve. Watkins described it as a "blunt instrument" that the team is actively refining with a "ton of data." Söderlund called it "not a full science" that will see adjustments.
Given that the current form of the system was only deployed in late December 2025, it's still very early. With Arc Raiders' 2026 roadmap including major updates like the Headwinds, Shrouded Sky, Flashpoint, and Riven Tides patches across the first four months of the year, it's likely that matchmaking tuning will be an ongoing process rather than a single definitive update.
The January 2026 Headwinds update already introduced a new matchmaking option — "Solos vs Squads" for level 40+ players — showing that Embark is actively experimenting with how players are grouped. Whether future updates will bring more transparency to the aggression rating, separate mode-specific ratings, or additional behavioral factors remains to be seen.
Related
Embark Shrouded Sky Interview (PC Gamer) — Virgil Watkins on post-match surveys, shooting back, and more matchmaking clarifications ahead of the Feb 24 update.
Sources
All developer quotes in this article are sourced from the following published interviews: