A nice Speranza.

Arc Raiders studio Embark is making the extraction shooter free to play for four days alongside the launch of the game's biggest update yet, Frozen Trail. The studio spent the last few days detailing all the new aspects of the update, and has now announced a way for players curious about the game to try it out.

The trial runs 8th to 12th October. Arc Raiders will be free to download and play across Steam, PlayStation and Xbox during that period. The trial surprisingly doesn't feature any locked content, with Embark saying it "grants access to the full Arc Raiders game".

That also extends to the new Pendola Pass map, which free weekend players can technically access immediately. That said, because the map needs to be unlocked by progressing through levels, it may take you a while to get there. Failing that, you can have a friend who already has Pendola Pass unlocked invite you to their squad.

Frozen Trail is expected to be a major moment for Arc Raiders. The expansion-size update adds a massive new map, several new Arc enemies and new weapons and gadgets. The update also marks the first major overhaul of the metagame, with tweaks to ammo, crafting and the addition of a more standard battle pass.

Arc Raiders has long since lost its massive launch audience, but I could see Frozen Trail being enough of a reason to lure players back. Given how much of the core game the update changes, Embark likely also sees it as the best entry point for new players.

Incidentally, right after the free trial concludes, Arc Raiders will be hosting a PvE test to give anyone who doesn't want to fight other players what they've been asking for since the game launched. The test runs 13th to 20th October, and simply disables player-on-player damage, essentially formalising the attitude of the game's famously friendly lobbies.

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