The release of the major Frozen Trail update has sent ARC Raiders player numbers on Steam soaring to more than four times their previous peak. One of the biggest attractions is the new Grappling Hook, which lets players swing across the environment in a manner reminiscent of Spider-Man. The update appears to have given Embark Studios' extraction shooter a significant boost in popularity nearly a year after launch.
ARC Raiders debuted in October 2025 and quickly established itself as one of the year's biggest multiplayer releases. Its all-time Steam peak reached 481,966 concurrent players in January, but those numbers gradually declined over the following months. In September, the game peaked at just 39,900 concurrent users, with an average of around 21,000.
ARC Raiders Surpasses 185,000 Concurrent Steam Players
Following Frozen Trail's launch on October 8, ARC Raiders reached a 24-hour Steam peak of 185,443 concurrent players. That's approximately 4.6 times its September high and the game's strongest performance since March.
However, the update isn't the only factor behind the surge. Embark Studios is also hosting a free weekend through October 12, allowing players to access the full game on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. The combination of fresh content and free access has clearly helped bring back former players while attracting newcomers.
The new Grappling Hook has emerged as one of the update's most talked-about features. It allows Raiders to swing across gaps, navigate locations more efficiently, and reach advantageous positions during encounters. Unsurprisingly, players have begun comparing the mechanic to Spider-Man's web-slinging. Reddit users have shared stories of swinging around Cargo Dock, getting above patrolling ARC enemies, and testing the gadget's capabilities. Some returning players have also praised the update for making the experience feel fresh again, with one describing it as almost like playing an entirely new game.
Frozen Trail, however, offers far more than a new traversal tool. The update introduces the snowy Pendola Pass map, additional ARC enemies and weapons, an Outpost and Research Bench, 22 quests, a redesigned Skill Tree, a new Reward Pass system, and several other tools.
Embark has described Frozen Trail as one of the biggest updates since the game's release. Its scale is particularly noteworthy because the studio previously abandoned its original plan to deliver major monthly updates. The developers explained that maintaining such a schedule was unsustainable and left too little room for meaningful changes. Major updates will now arrive twice a year, with Frozen Trail providing an early look at what the revised approach can offer.
For now, Embark has brought back well over 100,000 additional Steam players and reignited enthusiasm for the game. The studio's next challenge will be convincing them to stick around after swinging through the world with the Spider-Man-style Grappling Hook no longer feels like a novelty.
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