Matchmaking has always been a loaded word, but ARC Raiders is aiming at something more nuanced than pure skill-based sorting. According to Embark CEO Patrick Söderlund, the game considers multiple factors when assigning lobbies, including how players tend to play. That’s a meaningful statement, because “playstyle” is a different target than “rank” or “K/D.” It implies the game is watching behavioral patterns—how aggressive you are, whether you prioritize objectives, how you move through spaces—and using that data to shape the kind of encounters you get.

In theory, this is a quality-of-life win. One of the most frustrating experiences in competitive PvPvE games is loading into a match hoping for tactical scavenging, only to run into squads treating every minute like a highlight reel audition. If ARC Raiders can separate the hard-pushers from the methodical planners (at least some of the time), it could reduce the emotional mismatch that makes players churn. You don’t necessarily mind losing; you mind losing in a way that feels like you never had the kind of match you signed up for.

Extraction and sandbox shooters are especially sensitive to lobby composition because their tension comes from uncertainty. A good match has multiple “stories”: a stealthy run, an ambush, a last-second escape, a scramble over loot. If everyone in the lobby plays the same way, the story collapses into a single genre. But if the lobby is too chaotic—mixing ultra-optimized hunters with casual explorers—you risk turning the experience into a farm for the most ruthless players.

That’s where Embark’s approach gets interesting. Söderlund’s framing suggests a curated balance: by placing players with others who play similarly, the game can deliver more consistent fun. It’s almost like choosing a playlist without explicitly selecting one. The challenge will be transparency and trust. Players tend to dislike hidden systems when outcomes feel unfair, and “playstyle” classification can sound like the game is psychoanalyzing you mid-match.

There’s also a design trade-off. Some of the best moments in these games happen when you’re forced to adapt—when your cautious plan meets an unexpected aggressor, or when your aggressive run crashes into a team that out-thinks you. Over-segmentation could reduce those surprises and create “meta bubbles,” where certain strategies dominate within a playstyle bracket. On the other hand, if the system is flexible and uses playstyle as one factor among many, it can steer experiences without turning matches into predictable routines.

If Embark pulls this off, ARC Raiders could stand out by respecting player intent. That’s the core promise here: not just fair matches, but matches that feel like the game you wanted to play when you hit “ready.”