Shroud is “convinced” the team at Embark Studios “doesn’t care” about the ongoing cheating crisis impacting Arc Raiders.
Since Arc Raiders launched on October 30, 2025, the extraction shooter has exploded into one of the biggest hits the genre has ever seen. Peaking at over 700,000 concurrent players and selling over 14 million copies, it’s taken the industry by storm.
However, it hasn’t all been good news. With the surge in player count has also come a surge in cheaters. These pesky players have been wall-hacking and aim-botting as they tarnish the experience for others in the high-stakes multiplayer game.
Growing increasingly frustrated with the state of affairs is one of the game’s biggest supporters, shroud. After one too many encounters with unfriendly hackers, shroud was left at a loss for words, questioning if the devs even care.
Shroud blasts Embark Studios for cheating problems in Arc Raiders
“I had a feeling”, shroud said in the closing moments of a match. He was suspicious of cheaters in the lobby, and his suspicions were proven correct when a cheater took him out in a split second before hurling all manner of slurs the streamer’s way.
“This game has the worst anticheat I’ve ever seen,” one of shroud’s teammates said. “God, this game is so sh*t,” shroud echoed. “I’m convinced Embark actually doesn’t care.”
Shroud even joked that the cheating player was one of the devs from Embark Studios, but of course, that was just a playful jab.
“Maybe something massive is coming,” one of his teammates said, predicting a big anticheat upgrade in the days to come. Shroud called it ‘cope.’ “They’re literally cooking nothing.
“Every time I watch any streamer, this is exactly what happens,” he claimed. His other teammates further said to have run into cheaters 6-7 other times that same day.
In the early stages, cheaters were circumventing the devs’ protective measures. Namely, even after one account was banned, cheaters could simply hop over to another account in their Steam Family Sharing setup and, well, continue cheating. That was ultimately stopped on February 6, 2026.
Since then, the game has operated on a three-strikes system. You could be banned for 30 days, 60 days, and subsequently forever for repeated offenses.
This was a stark contrast to other games in the genre, especially Bungie’s upcoming competitor, Marathon. Earlier this week, Bungie announced a one-strike policy. Any cheaters caught in Marathon will be permanently banned with “no second chances,” they assured.
In the wake of this news, Embark issued an update of its own on February 24, all but mirroring Marathon’s approach.
“We’ve recently taken action against different exploits and we are further tightening our rules and stepping up enforcement,” the blog post explained.
“Serious infractions now carry stricter consequences. Strong detections will receive permanent bans right off the bat, while others will receive a temporary suspension and a single chance to correct the behavior.
“Our dedicated anti-cheat team works tirelessly to keep the game fair. It’s an ongoing fight, and we’re committed to it.”
