Active Matter vs ARC Raiders: Frozen Trail

• Platforms: PC (Steam, Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
• Base Game Price: $39.99 USD (Frozen Trail Update is Free to all base owners)
• Collector Set DLC Price: $29.99 USD
• Expansion Release Date: October 8, 2026
• New ARC Threats: The Frigate (Endgame Event), Bully, Skulker, Hydra Turret
• New Featured Map: Pendola Pass (Alpine Village & Exodus Transport Hub)
• New Weapon Additions: Stiletto Battle Rifle, Bantam Snub-Nose Revolver, Weapon Amplification

• Harpy Scout Drone: A highly advanced, deployable aerial drone. It is utilized to safely scout ahead, spot hidden anomalies, and track rival squads moving through the industrial ruins.
  UAV Gadget
• Syndicate Squadmates: The game allows for small co-op squads. Teammates can cover different angles, flank snipers, and secure your dropped loot if you are killed in action.
  Other Players

• Scrappy: Outpost Companion: Greets returning players, perches on research stations, and can be customized with craftable cosmetic hats and paint coats.
  Mechanical Outpost Rooster Drone
• Deployable Tactical Recon Dart: Audio Sensor Sweep: Detects and highlights nearby ARC machine movement and rival Raider footsteps through walls and smoke.
  Utility Gadget
• Pneumatic Grappling Hook: Rapid Elevation & Frigate Boarding: Allows instant ascension up sheer mountain cliffs and enables players to latch onto the low-flying ARC Frigate.
  Mobility Equipment

• Active Matter: The core currency and progression item of the game. Harvested directly from glowing environmental clusters, dead mutants, or stolen from rival operatives.
• Replicator Recipes: Rare schematics found deep within cryptic science labs that permanently unlock the ability to craft advanced technological gear (like Scout Drones) back at the base.
• Prime Currency: A special, highly coveted currency earned by completing daily contracts. It does not reset and is used to purchase base upgrades, secure containers, and respawn beacons.

• Exodus Transport Manifests: Found inside locked administrative filing cabinets within the Buried Transit Depot; yields significant Speranza reputation.
• Fallen Emperor Sub-Processor Core: Salvaged from the primary engine room of the downed Walker in Pendola Pass; unlocks high-tier Weapon Amplification blueprints.
• Pendola Observational Star Charts: Located on the upper viewing deck of the Mountain Observatory; grants bonus Raider Tokens and lore entries.

• Fractured Multiverse
• Time Loop
• Extraction Shooter
• Hardcore PvPvE
• Military Simulation
• Cosmic Horror
• Anomalies

• Post-Apocalyptic
• Mechanized War
• Extraction Survival
• Retro-Sci-Fi
• Cooperative Tactics
• High-Stakes Looting

• SV-98 Sniper Rifle: Precision Rifle
  A powerful, bolt-action Russian sniper rifle. It is absolutely crucial for securing long-range kills across open anomaly fields and locking down extraction points.
• SOK-94 Vepr Carbine: Semi-Automatic Rifle
  A highly versatile, hard-hitting civilian/military hybrid rifle. Easily modifiable with various scopes, making it the perfect budget weapon for mid-range engagements.
• Bouncer Brass Knuckles Knife: Melee Weapon
  A brutal personal backup weapon reserved for desperate, close-quarters encounters when ammunition runs dry or for executing silent takedowns.

• Stiletto Battle Rifle: Semi-Automatic Light Rifle
  High-mobility, low-recoil marksman rifle utilizing light ammunition. Engineered for rapid follow-up shots against exposed robotic optical sensors and sensor pods.
• Bantam Revolver: Snub-Nosed Heavy Sidearm
  Compact six-shot revolver chambered in heavy caliber rounds. Delivers massive close-range stopping power capable of shattering ARC armor plating.
• Amplified Burletta: Full-Auto Converted Handgun
  Tier-5 amplified research variant of the trusty Burletta sidearm, transforming it into a high-rate-of-fire machine pistol for room clearing.
• Amplified Rattler: Incendiary Submachine Gun
  Amplified upgrade equipping a 64-round drum magazine loaded with thermite rounds that inflict continuous burn damage on mechanical targets.
• Amplified Renegade: Long-Range Marksman Rifle
  Modified battle rifle outfitted with a high-magnification illuminated optic and high-velocity barrel, extending effective engagement range into sniper territory.

• Military Tactical Rigs: Realistic plate carriers and chest rigs that provide ballistic defense against rival operatives' gunfire and determine your total carrying capacity for magazines and medical gear.
• Secure Containers: The ultimate defensive item. A small, un-lootable pouch that guarantees any Active Matter or rare keys placed inside are kept even if your operative is killed in the raid.
• The Replicator System: While not wearable armor, this base function acts as your safety net, allowing you to use Active Matter to duplicate your favorite gear so a death in the zone isn't a permanent setback.

• Pendola Thermal Insulated Parka Rig: +30% Cold Resistance against Flash Freeze cycles; +15% ballistic mitigation against small arms fire.
• Exodus Heavy Reactive Plate Carrier: +45% Explosive and Shrapnel Resistance; protects vital organs from ARC missile barrages but slightly reduces maximum sprint duration.
• High-Altitude Lightweight Harness: +20% Zipline and Grapple ascent speed; reduces stamina consumption while sprinting uphill through deep snow.

• Syndicate Tactical Gear: Grounded, realistic modern military apparel ranging from heavy combat vests to specialized camouflage designed to blend into the rusty Soviet environments.
• Gas Masks and Rebreathers: Essential headgear visually representing the hazardous, toxic nature of the quantum-unstable zones where normal atmosphere has broken down.

• Glacier Scout Tactical Anorak: Snow-camo insulated anorak featuring tactical chest webbing, detachable fur hood, and clip-on crampons.
• Exodus Alpine Hazmat Suit: Reinforced sealed environmental suit with dual breather filters, yellow warning bands, and heavy utility gloves.
• Mountain Mountaineer Scarf & Goggles: Knitted wool thermal balaclava paired with tinted anti-glare polarized tactical glacier goggles.

Progression revolves heavily around extraction survival and base management. At the core is the Syndicate Base, a safe hub where players use harvested Active Matter to utilize the 'Replicator'. This device pulls objects from other timelines, allowing players to craft and retrieve highly advanced military weapons, modifications, and drones. Character progression relies on accumulating wealth (Credits and Prime currency), expanding your Replicator queue, and upgrading your arsenal to survive increasingly dangerous PvPvE zones.

The update delivers a comprehensive Skill Tree Rework, granting players a complete skill point refund to tailor their Raiders into Survivalist, Breacher, or Tech Specialist builds. Alongside the tree overhaul, the Weapon Amplification system unlocks fifth-tier modification paths for 15 existing weapons (such as granting full-auto functionality to the Burletta pistol, magnified high-caliber optics to the Renegade rifle, or a 64-round incendiary drum to the Rattler SMG). Survival perks also grant increased resistance to Flash Freeze exposure and quicker recovery when unfreezing sealed vault doors.

Instead of a single continuous open world, Active Matter utilizes distinct, large-scale instanced maps that players deploy into via raids. These locations exist outside the normal boundaries of space and time. Maps include a massive island dominated by rusted Soviet industrial complexes, sprawling cryptic science labs where the active matter phenomenon was first studied, and torn fragments of African and North American landscapes seamlessly bleeding into one another. Environmental anomalies constantly threaten the player, randomly altering space topology and gravitational forces.

Pendola Pass represents the largest tactical map introduced in ARC Raiders to date. Key landmarks include the Village Square (cramped streets and vertical apartment rooftops), the Mountain Observatory (an elevated sniper redoubt), the Supermarket (dense close-quarters combat zone rich in high-grade provisions), the Buried Transit Depot (subterranean railway corridors offering cover from blizzards), and the Fallen Emperor Crash Basin (a colossal machine carcass featuring explorable interior engine rooms and high-tier tech canisters).

• The ARC Frigate: Automated Machine Capital Carrier
  Colossal airborne machine mothership deployed to recover fallen machine units. Functions as a dynamic, boardable high-difficulty raid venue rather than a pilotable vehicle.
• Exodus Transport Mag-Train: Derelict Pre-War Transit Train
  Massive subterranean evacuation train frozen onto rusted rails beneath Pendola Pass, serving as an interior loot corridor and ambush site.
• Speranza Scavenger Hauler: Surface Cargo Transport
  Reinforced tracked transport vehicle seen in cinematic extraction sequences, transporting extracted salvage from Pendola Pass back to underground colonies.

• Active Matter Mutants: Mutated Survivors
  Former operatives and civilians who lost their humanity after prolonged exposure to Active Matter. They are highly aggressive and drop raw Active Matter when killed.
• Anomalous Flora / Objects: SCP-Inspired Entities
  Not traditional animals, but everyday objects—like a flowering bush or a rusty car—that have been mutated by the spatial distortions into deadly, living environmental traps.

• Northern Red Fox: Vulpes vulpes
  Ambient Wildlife (Scampers through snowdrifts around the edges of Pendola Pass, fleeing when players or ARC machines approach)
• Alpine Raven: Corvus corax
  Atmospheric Wildlife (Flocks perched on power lines and rooftops that take flight when startled by gunfire, giving away nearby squad positions)

• The Operative: Player Avatar
  A hardened mercenary trapped in a brutal time loop, fighting for survival and dominance in a fractured, anomalous multiverse.
• Ms. Second: AI Assistant
  An in-game artificial intelligence that manages your Syndicate Base operations, Replicator queues, and provides tactical updates regarding the quantum-unstable zones.
• Rival Syndicate Members: Enemy Players
  Other human players pulled from different timelines. They are heavily armed, highly intelligent, and will always be the most dangerous threat in any raid.

• Shani: Chief Logistics & Expedition Dispatcher
  Key figurehead in Speranza who coordinates expeditions into uncharted territories beyond the Rust Belt, providing briefings on Pendola Pass.
• Tian Wen: Master Weapons Engineer & Researcher
  Brilliant technician operating the underground workshop who developed the Weapon Amplification system using salvaged ARC cores.
• The Frigate AI Core: ARC Automated Airborne Overseer
  Autonomous tactical network controlling the massive ARC Frigate, deploying defense protocols and directing machine squads to salvage the downed Emperor.

• The Extraction Raid: PvPvE Raid
  The core gameplay loop. Deploy into a quantum-unstable zone, harvest Active Matter, loot weapons from dead players, and reach an extraction point before the zone collapses.
• Syndicate Turf War: Fierce PvP
  Intense, dedicated PvP battles where heavily armed operative syndicates fight directly over control of massive, passive sources of Active Matter.
• Anomaly Investigation: PvE Exploration
  Venture deep into the cryptic science labs to encounter eerie, SCP-inspired objects and gather the Replicator recipes necessary to upgrade your base arsenal.

• Ascent to Pendola: Exploration & Reconnaissance
  Establish an initial foothold in Pendola Pass, scavenge thermal supplies from the village square, and locate an entrance into the buried transit network.
• The Frigate Heist: High-Stakes Aerial Infiltration
  Use grappling lines to board the patrolling ARC Frigate, neutralize automated Hydra turrets, extract high-level core processors, and parachute to safety.
• Cold Snap Extraction: PvPvE Extraction Climax
  Locate an active extraction elevator during an incoming Flash Freeze event while defending against charging Bully machines and stalking Skulkers.

The game features robust multiplayer experiences divided into specific raid types. 'PvPvE Raids' allow solo players or small squads to infiltrate unstable zones, fight AI mutants, and simultaneously battle other human players for high-value loot before extracting. 'PvE Raids' offer a more focused challenge against the environment and anomalies. Additionally, there are dedicated 'Fierce PvP Battles' where rival syndicates clash directly over massive, passive sources of Active Matter.

High-stakes PvPvE extraction gameplay supporting Solo, Duo, and Trio matchmaking queues. Players compete against both lethal ARC machine networks and rival human teams for extractable loot. The update also introduces an experimental PvE matchmaking queue option designed to allow cooperative exploration and machine hunting without hostile human gunfire.

Unlike Gaijin's usual free-to-play model, Active Matter is a premium, buy-to-play title available for $29.99. It features several tiered editions: The Standard Edition includes 25,000 Credits, 300 Prime, and starter gear. The Advanced Edition provides higher starting capital, while the Deluxe Edition unlocks the first Replicator queue expansion, the 'Harpy' Scout drone recipe, and the 'Bouncer' brass knuckles knife. The highest tier is the Elite Squad Edition, designed to outfit a dedicated team from day one.

ARC Raiders Base Game ($39.99): Standard game containing the complete PvPvE extraction experience with free access to the Frozen Trail update (new map, weapons, and free reward track). ARC Raiders: Frozen Trail Collector Set ($29.99): Premium expansion pack including the Frozen Trail Premium Reward Pass (60 levels with 50 exclusive unlocks), 2,400 instant Raider Tokens (plus 1,000 earnable via pass progression), exclusive Arctic Raider cosmetic outfits, weapon stencils, and custom Scrappy rooster cosmetics.

The game operates as a live-service extraction shooter, with the developers promising an ever-evolving conflict. New 'doors' (maps) and quantum-unstable zones are slated to open with every major update, introducing fresh biomes, SCP-inspired objects, and unique mutated creatures. The game features daily contracts to earn 'Prime' currency, fueling ongoing engagement and syndicate wars.

Frozen Trail marks the launch of Embark Studios' new major live-service content framework, shifting to two massive, feature-packed updates per year supported by intermediate live balance patches. Accompanied by the Frozen Trail Collector Set DLC and regular community-driven map condition events.

• Q: Is Active Matter free to play?
  A: No. Unlike many of Gaijin's other titles (like War Thunder), Active Matter is a premium, buy-to-play game with the Standard Edition priced at $29.99.
• Q: What happens when I die?
  A: Active Matter is a hardcore extraction shooter. If you die, you lose all the weapons and gear you brought into the raid, except for items stored safely inside your secure container.
• Q: Can I play solo?
  A: Yes. You can deploy into the quantum-unstable zones entirely solo, but you will be facing high tension as you must navigate both AI mutants and potential squads of enemy players alone.
• Q: What is the 'Time Loop' mechanic?
  A: The time loop serves as the narrative justification for the extraction shooter loop. Whenever you die, you are resurrected at your Syndicate Base, forced to re-enter the zones to harvest more Active Matter to eventually break the cycle.

• Q: What is ARC Raiders: Frozen Trail?
  A: Frozen Trail is a major content expansion for the PvPvE extraction shooter ARC Raiders, introducing the new Pendola Pass mountain map, new ARC enemies, the Frigate endgame challenge, Weapon Amplification, the Outpost personal base, and new weapons.
• Q: When does the Frozen Trail update release?
  A: The Frozen Trail update officially launches on October 8, 2026, across PC (Steam, Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
• Q: Is the Frozen Trail update free for existing players?
  A: Yes. The map, new weapons, Outpost, ARC enemies, and the free reward pass track are free for all owners of the base ARC Raiders game. An optional Frozen Trail Collector Set DLC ($29.99) is available for premium rewards and currency.
• Q: What is the Flash Freeze mechanic in Pendola Pass?
  A: Flash Freeze is a severe environmental condition native to Pendola Pass where temperatures plummet drastically, dealing continuous frost damage to Raiders caught outside and forcing them to seek warmth inside buildings and shelters.
• Q: Can you destroy the ARC Frigate with weapons?
  A: No. The ARC Frigate cannot be destroyed through conventional gunfire. Raiders must board the vessel, navigate its internal traps and Hydra turrets, solve puzzles, and manually sabotage its power systems to escape with rare loot.

Powered by the Dagor Engine, the game delivers photorealistic military assets contrasted sharply against mind-bending, SCP-inspired surrealism. The visual showcase revolves around the 'Active Matter' anomalies—areas where gravity reverses, architecture folds onto itself like an M.C. Escher painting, and everyday objects (like a rusty Soviet car or a flowering bush) mutate into deadly threats. The lighting engine creates tense, high-contrast environments that perfectly suit the horror-adjacent tone.

Showcases Unreal Engine 5's Nanite virtualized geometry and Lumen dynamic global illumination across sub-zero mountain vistas. Employs advanced snow tessellation where player and machine footprints persist, dynamic building destruction via the Chaos physics engine, and blinding whiteout particle storms.

The audio experience is a massive highlight, featuring a haunting, atmospheric original soundtrack composed by the legendary Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill). The sound design mixes the grounded, terrifyingly loud cracks of realistic gunfire with the surreal, cosmic hum of space-bending anomalies and the guttural shrieks of mutated survivors. Directional audio is critical for pinpointing rival operatives moving through rusty industrial complexes.

A dynamic 1980s retro-futuristic synth and acoustic score that shifts from eerie, howling wind ambience in snowy valleys to adrenaline-fueled electronic percussion when ARC alarms trigger. Features spatial audio cues allowing raiders to pinpoint footsteps in snow, crumbling ice sheets, and the mechanical whirs of stealthy ARC Skulkers.

The UI embraces a tactical, immersive design standard for hardcore extraction shooters. Minimal on-screen clutter forces players to rely on situational awareness. Inventory management requires grid-based organization (Tetris-style), emphasizing the weight and space of every weapon, magazine, and piece of scavenged Active Matter. A 'Small Safe Container' allows players to permanently secure a few critical items even if they die in the raid.

Updated tactical HUD featuring dynamic core temperature gauges that warn players of impending Flash Freeze exposure, ambient weather radar indicators, streamlined Outpost customization menus, and an enhanced Weapon Amplification research workbench interface.

As a hardcore extraction shooter, Active Matter is inherently punishing, focusing on high-stakes gameplay where death results in the loss of gear. However, the inclusion of dedicated PvE raids provides a slightly safer environment for newer players to learn the map layouts, mutant behaviors, and gunplay mechanics without the immediate stress of hyper-competitive PvP encounters.

Includes comprehensive subtitle customizations (speaker name, background opacity, font sizing), directional visual sound indicators, colorblind shaders (Protanopia, Deuteranopia, Tritanopia), toggleable motion blur, camera shake intensity sliders, and fully rebindable controller and keyboard layouts.

• System requirements are rigorously verified against official Steam and Gaijin storefront data. Active Matter utilizes the proprietary Dagor Engine (powering War Thunder and Enlisted), blending large-scale environments with dynamic spatial anomalies and complex multiplayer networking.
• Laptop Performance Note: Extraction shooters are notoriously heavy on CPU and RAM. Laptops will need robust cooling to maintain stable frame rates, as thermal throttling during intense PvP firefights or when physics-bending anomalies spawn can result in fatal input lag and the loss of all your gear.
• Laptop Consideration: G P U T G P: A minimal TGP of 60W is required for 1080p rendering on low settings (e.g., RTX 3050 Mobile). For smooth 60+ FPS on High settings during intense syndicate battles, an 85W+ TGP (RTX 4060 Mobile or higher) is heavily recommended.
• Laptop Consideration: Cooling Thermals: The dynamic rendering of quantum-unstable zones and realistic ballistics require stable CPU and GPU thermals. A cooling pad is strongly recommended to prevent throttling, which can be devastating in a hardcore extraction shooter.
• Laptop Consideration: C P U Power Limits: Set Windows power delivery to 'Performance'. The game is heavily CPU-bound when tracking multiple operatives, AI mutants, and real-time spatial distortions.
• Laptop Consideration: M U X Switch Optimus: Absolutely critical to minimize render latency in a hardcore, low-time-to-kill (TTK) shooter where milliseconds determine survival and gear retention.
• Optimization Detail: Upscaling Tech: Supports NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FSR. Using upscaling is practically mandatory to maintain 60+ FPS during intense PvP encounters when graphical anomalies bend the space around the player.
• Optimization Detail: Key Settings Impact: Volumetric Fog, Shadow Quality, and Texture Detail heavily impact VRAM. Lowering volumetric effects provides a massive framerate boost in dense, anomaly-heavy areas.
• Game Name: Active Matter

• ARC Raiders utilizes Unreal Engine 5 with advanced Lumen global illumination and Chaos physics destruction. Operating system requires 64-bit Windows 10/11 with DirectX 12. Online broadband connection and Embark ID account are required. Anti-cheat integrity verified via kernel-level protection.
• Laptop Performance Note: Dynamic volumetric blizzards, sprawling vertical terrain at Pendola Pass, and multi-squad firefights around the airborne Frigate place intense simultaneous demands on laptop GPUs and multi-threaded CPUs. Adequate ventilation and dedicated power profiles are essential to mitigate thermal throttling.
• Laptop Consideration: G P U T G P: Requires a mobile GPU operating at 75W-95W minimum for fluid 1080p, and 115W-140W+ TGP for native 1440p high-refresh raiding.
• Laptop Consideration: Cooling Thermals: Dual-fan cooling pads and aggressive fan curves are strongly advised to keep mobile CPU and GPU temps below 85°C during extended extraction runs.
• Laptop Consideration: C P U Power Limits: A sustained PL1 power threshold of 45W+ is recommended for managing 24+ player and machine netcode simulations alongside Unreal Engine 5 world partition streaming.
• Laptop Consideration: M U X Switch Optimus: Bypassing hybrid graphics via a discrete MUX switch or NVIDIA Advanced Optimus provides a 12-18% boost to 1% low framerates in dense firefights.
• Optimization Detail: Upscaling Tech: Full native support for NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 (Super Resolution + Frame Generation + Reflex), AMD FSR 3.1, and Intel XeSS 1.3.
• Optimization Detail: Key Settings Impact: Global Illumination (Lumen), Shadow Quality, Volumetric Fog, and Draw Distance exert the most significant impact on rendering performance.
• Game Name: ARC Raiders: Frozen Trail

• Upscaling Tech: Supports NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FSR. Using upscaling is practically mandatory to maintain 60+ FPS during intense PvP encounters when graphical anomalies bend the space around the player.
• Key Settings Impact: Volumetric Fog, Shadow Quality, and Texture Detail heavily impact VRAM. Lowering volumetric effects provides a massive framerate boost in dense, anomaly-heavy areas.

• Upscaling Tech: Full native support for NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 (Super Resolution + Frame Generation + Reflex), AMD FSR 3.1, and Intel XeSS 1.3.
• Key Settings Impact: Global Illumination (Lumen), Shadow Quality, Volumetric Fog, and Draw Distance exert the most significant impact on rendering performance.

• G P U T G P: A minimal TGP of 60W is required for 1080p rendering on low settings (e.g., RTX 3050 Mobile). For smooth 60+ FPS on High settings during intense syndicate battles, an 85W+ TGP (RTX 4060 Mobile or higher) is heavily recommended.
• Cooling Thermals: The dynamic rendering of quantum-unstable zones and realistic ballistics require stable CPU and GPU thermals. A cooling pad is strongly recommended to prevent throttling, which can be devastating in a hardcore extraction shooter.
• C P U Power Limits: Set Windows power delivery to 'Performance'. The game is heavily CPU-bound when tracking multiple operatives, AI mutants, and real-time spatial distortions.
• M U X Switch Optimus: Absolutely critical to minimize render latency in a hardcore, low-time-to-kill (TTK) shooter where milliseconds determine survival and gear retention.

• G P U T G P: Requires a mobile GPU operating at 75W-95W minimum for fluid 1080p, and 115W-140W+ TGP for native 1440p high-refresh raiding.
• Cooling Thermals: Dual-fan cooling pads and aggressive fan curves are strongly advised to keep mobile CPU and GPU temps below 85°C during extended extraction runs.
• C P U Power Limits: A sustained PL1 power threshold of 45W+ is recommended for managing 24+ player and machine netcode simulations alongside Unreal Engine 5 world partition streaming.
• M U X Switch Optimus: Bypassing hybrid graphics via a discrete MUX switch or NVIDIA Advanced Optimus provides a 12-18% boost to 1% low framerates in dense firefights.