Embark switched from hotfixes to bans — Arc Raiders’ big anti-exploit move

Why Embark’s switch from hotfixes to bans matters for Arc Raiders players

This caught my attention because most studios treat exploits as a technical problem – Embark Studios treated this like a crime scene. After a burst of hotfixes in January and a full investigation, the developer has moved past emergency patches and begun actively enforcing penalties against players who abused duplication and infinite-ammo bugs in Arc Raiders.

• Duplication and infinite-ammo glitches flooded Arc Raiders’ economy and performance in crowded areas.
• Embark patched the client and server, then launched a data-driven sweep: warnings, coin deletions, temporary suspensions and permanent bans for the worst abusers.
• The enforcement follows a completed investigation and comes before the Shrouded Sky content drop – and the studio is asking players to report abuse via Discord.

Breaking down the exploits and the real damage

The two headline problems were an item-duplication glitch and an infinite-ammo bug. The dupe mainly hit high-value consumables – most famously stacks of Familiar Ducks, a sellable item that quickly translated into illegitimate Coins — plus grenades and other quick-use items. Infinite ammo issues affected magazine counts and weapon durability, giving exploiters a major edge in crowded PvE encounters and raids.

Technically, both were caused by desyncs between client-side inventory handling and server authority around extraction moments on maps like Buried City. Hotfixes squashed the immediate attack vector, but by then markets were flooded and progression systems were distorted: people could buy gear and skip grind cycles, and server performance in packed areas degraded because of duplicated stacks.

From hotfixes to enforcement: the sequence that matters

Embark’s approach moved in three phases: rapid hotfixes to stop new abuse, a telemetry-led investigation to separate accidental triggers from intentional farming, then targeted enforcement. The studio says it cross-referenced player reports with game data and will remove illicit Coins, warn marginal cases, and suspend or permanently ban repeat or large-scale abusers. CEO Patrick Söderlund described the response as “pretty aggressive,” comparing cheaters’ impact to a DDoS on live multiplayer games.

• Minor/accidental triggers: warnings and removal of duplicated items.
• Moderate abuse: coin wipes and temporary suspensions.
• Severe or repeated exploitation: account termination and wider blocks (including measures to stop ban evasion via Family Sharing).

What this means for everyday players — and creators

Good news first: enforcement is the quickest way to restore a loot economy that actually feels earned. Removing tainted Coins and banning prolific abusers reduces price inflation, makes raids feel consistent again, and lowers the chance of overgeared players steamrolling encounters. Embark’s public communication helps, too — transparency matters when you’re wiping currencies or deleting in‑game stacks.

But there are risks. Rapid, data-driven bans can produce false positives, especially in a game already sensitive to lag-based desyncs. Creators who demonstrated glitches publicly found themselves under scrutiny; some were temporarily suspended after posting dupe videos. That’s understandable — showing an exploit is effectively teaching cheating — but it also raises fairness questions around intent and proportionality.

What to do now (short checklist for PC players)

• Update the client to the latest build — hotfixes closed the immediate vectors.
• Report suspected abuse on Embark’s official Discord rather than sharing replication steps publicly.
• If you receive enforcement action you think is wrong, use the studio’s appeal channels and include raid IDs and screenshots — Embark says they’re reviewing cases with telemetry evidence.

Looking ahead: stability, anti-cheat and Shrouded Sky

Embark has signaled further anti-cheat work and said it will continue to harden client-server validation. The timing — locking down the economy ahead of the Shrouded Sky update — makes sense: you don’t want a new content cycle running on top of a compromised economy. If the studio follows through with stricter telemetry, clearer appeal paths and fewer false positives, Arc Raiders can recover trust. If enforcement looks heavy-handed or opaque, community goodwill will erode quickly.

TL;DR

Embark moved from emergency hotfixes to active enforcement after a big dupe and infinite-ammo incident. Coins and duplicated items are being purged, warnings issued for borderline cases, and repeat offenders suspended or banned. For players, that should mean a fairer economy — as long as the studio keeps enforcement accurate and transparent. If you see cheaters, report them via the official Discord; if you’re hit by a ban you believe is wrong, gather your raid logs and appeal promptly.