Embark Studios has concluded its investigation into the duplication glitches and infinite ammo bugs discovered in Arc Raiders. After weeks of looking into the issue, Embark concluded that the exploits stemmed "from a design flaw on our part."
Realizing the "real impact" these glitches had on the game's economy and the game's community, the developer acknowledged, "It's on us to address that and work to restore balance."
With that, the developer is ready to dole out its punishment and take the necessary corrective enforcement actions for players who took advantage of these exploits.
"We understand the desire for fast action, especially when both gameplay and the economy suffers. At the same time, our responsibility is, and must be, to act with fairness and accuracy," the developer said. "When we take action on player accounts, we do it based on what we can define, prove, and stand behind."
Embark's investigation into accounts suspected of exploitation includes validating reports against data, confirming whether exploits were used, assessing their scope and impact, distinguishing accidental or edge-case behavior from repeated intentional abuse, and evaluating the measurable effects on the game’s economy and competitive integrity. As this is the first major incident of this nature in Arc Raiders, Embark wanted to take the time to fully understand the situation and respond with consistency.
So what will the punishment be for those who abused these exploits? Based on severity, intent, frequency, and impact, consequences will range from warnings to suspensions.
Warnings will be issued for "low-severity cases where abuse was limited." You can also expect Coins tied to the exploit activity to be removed from the game. Account suspensions will be issued for more severe instances, "where exploit usage had a significant impact on the in-game economy or other players’ experience." It doesn't sound like Embark will be issuing permanent bans, but we're also not sure how long these suspensions will last for.
In one last message to players, Embark emphasized how the studio plans to move on and learn from this issue:
It's our hope that this response provides a platform for future action, and we’ve already improved our detection and tracking, internal review tools, and safeguards to limit the impact of similar exploits.
We take this incident seriously, and we’re approaching it as both a corrective effort and a learning opportunity to strengthen the systems that support fair play.
With these exploit issues now hopefully behind us, we can focus on the fun and excitement that Arc Raiders brings.