Arc Raiders tests a free loadout ban on its hardest map conditions

Arc Raiders update 1.33 is running a three-week experiment: free loadouts are now banned on Night Raid and Close Scrutiny, the two hardest map conditions in the game. The test runs until July 7, and depending on what Embark sees, the studio may extend the restriction to more map conditions.

The patch notes are direct about the reasoning — the studio is disabling free loadouts on these modes to raise the barrier of entry, so players commit to appropriate risk and reward in scenarios that offer better loot. Alongside the ban, Embark also shipped a couple of quality-of-life tweaks for free loadouts in general: your current loadout no longer gets wiped the moment you select a free one, staying intact until you actually load into a match. The inventory screen will also now show the free loadout's equipment instead of a blank slate.

Free loadouts have been a point of friction in Arc Raiders since launch. They're fine for low-stakes sessions, but their presence in harder modes gutted the risk-reward loop — there's no point bringing your best gear when your opponent has nothing to lose and nothing worth looting. Night Raid and Close Scrutiny were designed around meaningful stakes, and letting players waltz in with free kits undercut that entirely.

The community has largely been asking for something like this for a while, so the reaction is positive. Three weeks is a short window, but it should give Embark enough data to decide whether the rest of the map rotation needs the same treatment.