ARC Raiders’ monthly content updates are coming to an end, and its next major add-on is in 5 months. Players are furious

ARC Raiders dev Embark Studios announced today that major content updates will now just come twice a year, and the next one won’t arrive until October of this year.

Needless to say, this change in how the game will drop content has players pretty upset, and I can’t really blame them. But Embark says that monthly updates have become unmanageable, so the way the game gets updates and content has to change.

“Over time, we’ve found that the pressure of a monthly cycle limits how impactful these updates can be,” Embark said. “You feel it, and we feel it too. Running at that pace isn’t sustainable, or compatible with the bigger ambitions we have for this game.”

These twice-yearly updates will be “larger in scale, more impactful, with the goal to genuinely change how you play the game,” and Embark will still work on the game with minor updates throughout the year. But those hoping for large-scale content drops will have to wait a lot longer in between them.

“We think about ARC Raiders as an experience that should continue expanding over time, and right now we’re still early in that journey,” Embark said. “The bi-annual cadence gives us the opportunity to develop to build [sic!] future updates with more intention, ensuring that gameplay, progression, narrative, and the world itself all move forward together.”

The announcement was met with universal disapproval, with a playerbase that has only grown increasingly more frustrated since launch, with scant content drops adding minor additions to the game every month. Now, those updates will be bigger, but with way more downtime in between, and it’s a tough sell when it comes to keeping people engaged.

“Holy fuck, you didn’t just put the nail in your own coffin, you dug the hole and covered it too,” one reply said. “RIP ARC Raiders.”

“When ARC Raiders launched, we planned to offer monthly content updates,” Embark explained. “The intention was to keep you all engaged, to ensure the game always felt fresh, and to give you reasons to keep braving topside. But once the game was in players’ hands, we saw that the kind of long-term experience we want to create for ARC Raiders requires more transformative updates.”

ARC Raiders’ hugely successful launch last year feels like a long way away at this point, as player sentiment grows more negative with each passing content drop. Updates every six months may end up being best for the game in the long run, but as for day-to-day players, there doesn’t seem to be much positivity coming from this news so far.

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The Royal Highlands update in Palia has made the map bigger, but we can save our time and energy by finding a horse for ourselves. To make matters even better, all of us can have the mount for free.

However, there are a few tasks to complete before we can get our hands on our stallion.

How to unlock your horse in Palia Royal Highlands update

The first task is to reach the Royal Highlands region. If you’re someone new to the game, you should still be able to access the location. However, you’ll come across certain spoilers for content related to the main campaign.

Next, we will need to find Hassian, an NPC, and you’ll find a horse next to him. The horse next to Hassian will be trapped in amber. You’ll have to free it by using your pickaxe, which can be done after starting the Before the Dawn quest.

Next, look for Dawnspur Lilies to feed the horse. You’ll find the flowers in the nearby locations, and they’re easy to find. Once you find three flowers, return to the horse. Hassian will then ask you to ride the new mount. He will claim that the horse appears to be fond of you, and you’ll find out if that’s not the case. Hassian will then return to the camp, leaving you with your mount.

Open the tool menu and choose the saddle icon. You’ll now find the horse added to your list of options. Select the horse, and it will appear as your ride. You move on the horse by using the same controls that you use for your character.

Do note that your horse will have a stamina gauge that will empty when it sprints. Once the bar is depleted, it will move more slowly until the stamina is refilled. To prevent that from happening, move through golden orbs since that will partially restore the lost stamina.

Combined with your ranch, you can also breed your horses and ride them. It’s a really cool mechanic that will save a lot of time during exploration. Since new players can also access Royal Highlands early, you can make your mount a part of your journey.

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