ARC Raiders is the latest game to add to the list of games that support PSSR 2, the latest generation of PlayStation's upscaling technology. Embark Studios confirmed that tomorrow's Riven Tides update for the extraction shooter will not only add a new map, new map condition, new items, a new enemy, a new event, and new cosmetics, but it'll also bring "meaningful" visual improvements thanks to PSSR 2 that PS5 Pro players will notice "immediately."
Announced with a new PlayStation Blog post, members of Embark's technical team praised the improvements afforded by PSSR 2, with engine lead Robert Kihl saying, "the upgraded PSSR brings a range of meaningful improvements that PS5 Pro players will notice immediately, particularly in demanding, detail-rich environments that ARC Raiders is known for."
Technical art director Mikael Linderholm adds, "With the improved PSSR we can deliver increased image quality and stability, significantly reducing visual noise in-game without any performance reductions, allowing our players to experience the game and its world with less distractions."
Kihl also pointed out that PSSR 2 made his and the technical team's work fairly easy, since it required "minimal fine-tuning." He also called the tech "impressive" with "how well it works on the wide variation of complex scenes that we have in ARC Raiders."
As for the rest of the update, as previously mentioned, ARC Raiders players are finally getting a new map to explore called Riven Tides. It's the first major new bit of content the game has seen in a while, and will likely lead to an influx of returning players who have dropped the game in recent months.
There's another new ARC enemy entering the fray with the ARC Turbine, and a new map condition is being added to the game called Beachcombing. Two new items are also getting added to the game called the Powered Descender and the Crash Mat, both of which are meant to help mitigate some of the vertical challenges that raiders face when going Topside.
The new event, Last Resort, runs from tomorrow until May 25, 2026, and rewards players with Merits for hunting down little miniature Ship Models. You can then cash in your Merits for three pages of awards, which include a total of 250 Raiders tokens.
Lastly, there's a new batch of cosmetics for Raiders to purchase, to round out the update. Though players are definitely much happier to know they'll finally have a new map to explore, as the game's community has been crying out for new content for months now.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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