I’m stunned by how different Arc Raiders is when played solo, and it seems I’m not the only one – the community is highlighting the wholesome nature of playing alone

• Arc Raiders players are praising the game’s solo experience, highlighting the friendliness of PvP interactions
• I’ve certainly found Solo matches to be filled with more friends than foes
• Some servers have even teamed up to take down boss ARC enemies

While your social feeds have no doubt been filled with tense Arc Raiders PvP firefights recently, the game actually has a much stranger, and decidedly more wholesome side.

Solo play, in my experience, has been a night and day difference when compared to jumping in with a squad. You always feel underpowered against the ARC and will likely spend most of your time sneaking around buildings. This is a PvP game, however, and whether you intend to or not, you’ll always come across another player during a match.

What I wasn’t expecting while playing Arc Raiders solo was for 90 percent of PvP interaction to be friendly ones. I’ve had plenty of players sneak up on me while I’m busy looting, but instead of swinging a weapon at my head (they’d certainly have every opportunity for a quick kill), they’ve called out ‘Don’t Shoot!’, a phrase that is now used in-game to signal that you’d really rather not fight each other.

This emerging sense of camaraderie is being reported by many Arc Raiders players, with the game’s official Reddit currently flooded with tales of enemies turned friends. In a post by 'u/mayormcskeez', the user praises the community: “the fact that the community has decided that most interactions are friendly is fantastic.”

Another post (seen above) jokes about the difference in Arc Raiders Solo and Squad encounters.

Of course, Arc Raiders is a PvP experience, so you’re largely left to decide whether you want to team up or hunt other Raiders, but it does appear that the scales are tipped towards friendly interactions currently.

As posted by 'u/iReaddit-KORTTOR', betrayals are still happening, as are kills while extracting, but there’s a surprisingly chill community playing Solo at present: “Going solo - I fully expected it to be a free-for-all. Kill or be killed. All for one. But I’ve been largely surprised at how chill and helpful people are in solo.”

This all tracks with my personal experience playing Arc Raiders, mostly Solo. Just last night, I was shot at from afar, and after a minute or two of trading shots at long range, I heard my enemy shout out, ‘Don’t Shoot!’.

I replied with the same, and we both slowly walked out of cover with our weapons stowed away. After a quick greeting, we went our separate ways, avoiding a drawn-out firefight that would have surely seen at least one of us killed.

In another instance, I found myself injured and pinned down by flying ARC enemies. I made a break for cover, and just as the ARC was lining up a shot, I heard shots in the distance. I assumed the worst, but as the ARC came crashing down around me, I realized that I’d just been saved by another player, who could easily have finished me off.

Embark Studios just unveiled the Arc Raiders roadmap for the rest of 2025, with a new map and events scheduled to arrive soon. With updates coming at such a rapid pace, it’s very likely we’ll be adding Arc Raiders to our list of the best multiplayer PC games to play in 2025 before the year is done.

Until then, check out our recommendations for superb PC controllers below.

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