ARC Raiders update brings Headwinds patch with Solo vs Squads, Bird City, and a four-month content runway

The latest ARC Raiders update, titled Headwinds, went live Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026 ET, adding a new high-skill matchmaking option, a Buried City shake-up built around birds and rooftop fights, and a long-term project focused on hunting ARC machines for rewards.

The patch also arrives with a broader roadmap framing the next four monthly drops through April, signaling a steady cadence of map conditions, new threats, and periodic Expedition windows rather than one giant seasonal overhaul.

Headwinds delivers a new matchmaking switch and big quality-of-life additions

Headwinds’ headline feature is Solo vs Squads, a toggle available to solo players who are level 40 and above. Turning it on places a solo Raider into the squads queue, with a 20 percent bonus XP granted at the end of the round whether the run ends in extraction or defeat.

On the social side, the update adds open parties, allowing friends to join more seamlessly, and expands invite permissions so squadmates can invite others, not only the party leader. The patch also brings new input options and interface improvements, including mouse smoothing, broader gamepad rebinding, and other usability fixes aimed at reducing friction between matches.

Further specifics were not immediately available on how often the Solo vs Squads toggle will be used for limited-time events or if it will see additional balancing rules beyond the XP bonus.

Bird City turns Buried City into a vertical loot-and-ambush loop

The most visible world change is Bird City, a new permanent map condition that applies only to Buried City and rotates weekly. Flocks of birds move into the area, building nests around chimneys and leaving behind “shiny trinkets,” shifting attention upward and encouraging more rooftop movement.

To reinforce that vertical flow, Bird City adds more bird traps and ziplines, and the update expects more combat in and around rooftops, including more flying ARC and more frequent player proximity. In practice, that means Buried City runs may feel less like cautious street-level scavenging and more like a series of contested climbs where sound cues, sightlines, and timing matter as much as firepower.

Some specifics have not been publicly clarified, including whether additional Buried City-only conditions will be introduced later that stack with Bird City or rotate separately.

Trophy Display adds long-term progression built around machine hunts

Headwinds introduces Trophy Display, a long-term project that asks Raiders to hunt increasingly dangerous groups of ARC, collect parts, and submit them for rewards. The project builds a display case over five steps, with each step adding a new item to the case and paying out rewards that include blueprints and Raider Tokens. Full completion also grants extra items such as an emote, a guitar cosmetic, and 300,000 Coins, and it has no fixed end date. It also is not intended to be affected by Expedition resets.

Alongside Trophy Display, the update adds two new Epic Augments and seven new quests, expanding the number of viable loadout paths and giving regular players more structured goals during repeated runs.

Mechanically, this update leans into how extraction games keep sessions fresh: players drop into a map, weigh risk versus reward while scavenging, and then decide when to extract under pressure from both machines and other Raiders. Rotating map conditions change the safest routes and the best loot spots, while projects and quests create repeatable reasons to take different paths or fight tougher enemies. Solo vs Squads modifies that loop by raising the PvP danger in exchange for faster XP progression, while Trophy Display turns ARC encounters into a longer checklist with tangible build and cosmetic payoffs.

Who benefits now and what the roadmap points to next

Headwinds is likely to land differently depending on playstyle. High-level solo players get a new way to challenge squads while still progressing quickly through the XP bonus. Coordinated squads may notice more volatile fights as confident solos enter their queue with aggressive, high-variance play. Collectors and crafters get a clear long-term target in Trophy Display, while quest-focused players gain more objectives to break up routine loot runs.

The patch also addresses competitive integrity with an anti-cheat enforcement approach described as a three-strikes progressive ban system that escalates penalties from time-limited bans to a permanent ban for repeat offenders. That matters most to two groups: players who want fair matches and reliable progression, and competitive-minded squads who depend on consistent, low-friction sessions.

Looking ahead, the next milestone is the February content update, Shrouded Sky, which is slated to include a new map condition, a new ARC threat, a player project, a Raider Deck, a map update, and an Expedition window. The monthly runway then continues with March’s Flashpoint and April’s Riven Tides, culminating in a new map and a new large ARC later in the spring.