If you tried logging into ARC Raiders today and were met with connection errors, long matchmaking queues, or timeout messages, you’re not alone. Thousands of players around the world are reporting that ARC Raiders is currently down — especially on Christmas Day — leaving gamers frustrated and confused.
The Big Picture: Widespread Outage During the Holiday Season
On December 25, 2025, ARC Raiders experienced a major service disruption affecting players on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox systems. Reports surged with users unable to log in, connect to matches, or stay online after matchmaking. This isn’t a minor glitch — it’s a major outage impacting a significant portion of the player base during a peak online activity period.
Why Is ARC Raiders Down? The Core Causes
1. Overloaded Servers from Holiday Traffic
The holiday season is traditionally a time when many players are off work and gaming more than usual. Combined with ARC Raiders’ already high player count, this sudden spike in simultaneous logins can overwhelm backend systems, leading to connection failures and server instability.
2. Network Timeout and Backend Failures
Many users are receiving the “ART00004 Network Timeout” error — a message that usually means the game client can’t communicate with servers in a timely manner. This could be due to overloaded backend services or delayed responses from infrastructure components.
3. Third‑Party Infrastructure Disruptions (AWS)
Some player discussions and reports point to issues with Amazon Web Services (AWS), which many game servers rely on for networking and hosting. When AWS experiences outages, multiple online titles (including ARC Raiders) can be affected at the same time. This suggests the problem could originate partially outside of Embark Studios’ direct control.
Is This a Planned Shutdown or Long Term Closure?
No — the outage doesn’t appear to be a scheduled shutdown or permanent server closure. ARC Raiders was only released in late 2025 and remains a supported live game. There hasn’t been any official announcement about shutting down the game servers permanently. Instead, this is an unexpected outage likely tied to server load and infrastructure issues.
Developers’ Response: What Embark Studios Is Doing
As of this moment, Embark Studios has acknowledged the connection issues and is investigating them. However, they haven’t provided a detailed timeline for when services will be fully restored.
Developers typically work on multiple fronts during outages:
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Monitoring affected systems
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Applying fixes or scaling backend resources
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Communication through official social channels
Keep an eye on the ARC Raiders official Discord or social media feed for the latest updates.
How Players Can Deal with the Outage (Short‑Term Fixes)
While the root cause isn’t something players can fix, there are a few things you can try to minimize connection problems on your end:
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Restart your game and launcher (Steam/Epic) to refresh your session.
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Power cycle your router to clear local network cache.
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Check live status websites and community forums for real-time updates.
These won’t bring servers back online, but they can help rule out local connectivity issues.
Impact on the Gaming Community
The outage has disrupted many planned gaming sessions — especially during a peak time when players expected to be online with friends. With tens of thousands of users affected across multiple regions, this outage ranks as one of the more widespread service disruptions ARC Raiders has faced since launch.
For a multiplayer extraction shooter like ARC Raiders, server availability is critical. Extended downtimes can affect player retention, in-game progress, and overall community sentiment — especially after the strong launch and ongoing updates the game has received this year.
A Temporary (But Significant) Outage
In short, ARC Raiders is currently down due to a combination of overwhelming holiday traffic, backend infrastructure strain, and possibly broader third-party service disruptions. The developers are aware and working on it, but there’s no fixed ETA yet for full restoration. Stay tuned to official channels and status pages for updates as they unfold.