The launch of ARC Raiders turned into a scramble. On Sunday, November 2, the servers collapsed under the influx, preventing many players from connecting or joining a game. Embark Studios, the game’s developer, responded quickly: a reward of 500 tokens was promised to everyone who logged in that day, whether they successfully played or not.
Officially released on October 30, 2025, ARC Raiders is a multiplayer extraction shooter that got off to a flying start, with over 350,000 concurrent players on Steam during its first weekend. Such influx had consequences: matchmaking bugs, endless queues and sudden disconnections punctuated the gaming experience. To ease tensions, Embark announced on Twitter the sending of 500 Raider tokens “to all Raiders who connected on Sunday”.
Compensation accessible even to those who were able to play
The studio clarified that this reward was aimed at all players who attempted to log in that day, including those who managed to join a game. In other words, even if you were not directly affected by the malfunctions, you will receive the tokens. Their distribution began on November 3, according to moderators on the game’s official Discord server.
But what can we do with these tokens? This is ARC Raiders’ premium currency, comparable to Fortnite’s V-Bucks. Each player will be able to exchange them for cosmetic items : hairstyles, skins, accessories… 500 tokens represent a value of 5 dollars, enough to unlock for example the Mohawk cut or the Buff Rock outfit for the character Scrappy.
An economic model that is not unanimously accepted
Despite this commercial gesture, some members of the community remain critical. The game being sold for 40 dollars, the presence of an integrated store offering purchases with virtual currency does not go down well with some players, who denounce monetization considered excessive. The studio has not reacted to these accusations, but this situation is reminiscent of that of Helldivers 2, another cooperative game whose launch was also marred by server problems.
It remains to be seen whether Embark’s strategy will be enough to retain newcomers. For now, the priority remains clear: stabilize the servers and turn initial momentum into lasting success. In the meantime, the 500 tokens are there to thank those who persisted despite the difficulties.