Since its launch in late October 2025, Arc Raiders has rapidly turned into a standout hit in the multiplayer shooter scene, far beyond niche expectations for its extraction-shooter genre and the momentum has not let up. On January 27, 2026, Arc Raiders received its “Headwinds” update, the first major content drop of the year that sets the stage for the game’s early 2026 roadmap and introduces several significant additions and changes.
According to the official Arc Raiders announcement, the update arrives as the harsh winter has receded in the game world, ushering in new challenges for Raiders surviving the aftermath of the Cold Snap. The biggest headline from this patch is the Solo vs Squads matchmaking option, which allows players who have reached at least level 40 to opt into a high-difficulty mode where a single Raider faces off against full squads of opponents, with a bonus to experience points granted whether the lone Raider extracts successfully or is defeated.
In addition to this new matchmaking mode, Headwinds adds the Trophy Display project, a long-term progression feature that encourages players to hunt powerful ARC enemies, collect parts, and contribute them to a display case that unlocks rewards like blueprints, Raider Tokens, and other items as the case is built through multiple levels.
The update also brings a new “Bird City” map condition to Buried City, where flocks of birds have taken over chimneys and stashes of loot can be found in unexpected places, forcing Raiders to think vertically and contend with both environment and enemy players in rooftop combat scenarios.
Headwinds includes two new Epic augments expanding build options and seven new quests, as well as party and social improvements like open parties and expanded squad invites to make teaming up easier. Several quality-of-life changes, cosmetic additions, and bug fixes were also bundled into the patch to round out the content drop.
Just one day later, on January 28, 2026, Arc Raiders received a follow-up hotfix (1.13.1) to address issues that emerged with the Headwinds update. According to patch notes summarized by GameRant and community sources, this hotfix corrected unintended weapon behavior that had caused several guns to fire slower than intended due to a bug, rather than intentional balance changes, and restored them to their proper fire rates.
The hotfix also fixed a cosmetic glitch where some items unlocked through Raider Tokens were not appearing in the customization menu unless purchased, and it removed some accidental Ukrainian text that had appeared in parts of the interface during the previous update In addition to these fixes, the hotfix has been rolling out with some platform delays, meaning features like cross-play will be temporarily unavailable for Xbox Series X/S until the patch is fully deployed.