ARC Raiders just launched a few days ago, and players are already trying out various settings to squeeze out every last advantage. This has led to a whole other topic right now, as a heated debate is taking over the community: do low graphics settings give players an unfair edge in PvP?
According to this fast-growing thread on Reddit, the answer might be yes.
A Stealth Advantage Hiding in the Settings
Players discovered that running ARC Raiders on low graphics not only makes the game uglier, but it also removes certain foliage and small objects entirely. That means bushes and environmental clutter that should hide players simply do not exist for those on low settings.
So if you want the game to look great, you might be at a disadvantage in PvP. That is a problem.
Immersion vs. Pure Advantage
Within the community, as is evident in the above-mentioned Reddit thread, there are a few players who compliment the cinematic graphics on high settings, even if it means losing gunfights. Nevertheless, there will always be competitive players who are running bare-bones visuals simply to make spotting enemies much easier.
A few players even said this reminds them of old PUBG and Tarkov days, where anyone playing on max settings felt like they were handicapping themselves.
Console players are especially annoyed, since they cannot adjust their settings at all, and some have already disabled crossplay over it.
What Should Get Fixed
The general ask is simple: do not remove bushes entirely. Keep them in the world, even at low settings, just in a reduced or simplified form. Think low-res foliage, not invisible foliage.
There are also calls for:
- Unified object rendering across all settings
- Basic versions of leaves and bushes that never vanish
- Crossplay improvements so consoles do not get rolled
Embark has acknowledged the performance challenges for low- and mid-range systems, but players now want fairness without punishing lower-end PCs.
The Big Question
ARC Raiders is still very new, so none of this is game-breaking yet. But if PvP heats up the way players expect, settings will matter more than cosmetics and skill points combined.
The real challenge for Embark: keep the game accessible but also fair.
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