Cheaters have been a problem in Arc Raiders for a while. Now, Embark Studios is making it clear that dodging bans is no longer an option by punishing cheaters and those associated with them.
Since its early tests, Arc Raiders has struggled with players abusing cheats to gain an edge in encounters. From wallhacks and aimbots to resource duping and exploit abuse, illegitimate play has regularly disrupted matches and undermined the risk-reward loop that defines the game. Embark has repeatedly acknowledged the issue and has rolled out a steady stream of countermeasures.
Those efforts have included backend anti-cheat updates, faster ban waves, manual investigations, and tighter detection around repeat offenders. Even so, some players continued finding ways around suspensions, often by switching accounts and jumping straight back into the game.
Now, that loophole is closing after Embark Studios has confirmed another escalation in their anti-cheat strategy. This time, the punishment extends beyond the individual account and targets anyone connected through Steam Family Sharing.
Embark Studios extends bans across Steam Family Sharing
As revealed in the Arc Raiders Discord, Embark Studios confirmed that bans will now apply across shared libraries. “In our ongoing continuous efforts to make Arc Raiders a more fair experience for all raiders, we have just made changes to how Steam Family Sharing works for suspended accounts,” the studio said.
They explained that the system had been abused for months. “Up until now, suspended accounts could exploit Steam Family Sharing to avoid account suspensions, making their way back to Speranza to continue their illegitimate play.
This change prevents that by ensuring that if an account is suspended, all accounts associated with that account through Steam Family Sharing are also automatically suspended as well.”
Steam Family Sharing is a feature that allows multiple accounts to access the same game library across different devices, without each user owning their own copy. It is commonly used by households or close friends who share PCs, but it has also been used by banned players to rotate accounts and bypass restrictions on Steam.
With this change in place, swapping accounts or jumping onto another PC will no longer help cheaters escape a suspension. If one account breaks the rules, every linked account is locked out at the same time, regardelss if your friend or family did anything wrong.
Embark also clarified that there is still a path forward for affected players. “A removed family member is free to purchase their own copy of the game, but will need to wait for the existing game ban on their account to expire.”
In practice, that means one cheater can temporarily take multiple people down with them, hopefully disuading some cheaters and halting an exploit used by others.
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