Twitch Streamer Shroud Comments on Cheaters in ARC Raiders

Shroud, ex-pro Valiant and Counterstrike the player turned Twitch Streamer, also known as Michael Grzesiek, gave ARC Raiders developer Embark Studios is in overdrive due to the huge number of cheaters currently found in the extraction shooter. The streamer and content creator was one of them ARC Raiders” biggest supporters since its launch in October, but now suggests it might be time to move on to something new if Embark can't regain control of its game “in the next week or two”.

ARC Raiders was one of the biggest surprises of 2025, becoming one of the biggest hits of the year and toppling giants such as Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. While the two established shooters had fantastic starts in October and November, respectively. ARC Raiders managed to retain 91% of its active player base on Steam Battlefield 6's dropped by 85%. That momentum appears to have carried over into 2026, as new data from Alinea Analytics claims that new title Embark had its biggest day ever on January 4, with 3.2 million daily active users across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. The outlet also informs about it ARC Raiders sold over 12 million copies in just two months.

ARC Raiders players completely ignore the game limit, but it comes with a catch

Some ARC Raiders players seem to completely ignore the game's Stash limit and hoard tons of items, but there's a big catch.

Shroud Blasts Make your way through the ARC Raiders cheats

Unfortunately, it wasn't all sunshine and roses for Embark. As with most live service titles ARC Raiders has its fair share of rogues wreaking havoc on raids. The problem seems to be so bad that several streamers are calling for the studio to make some meaningful changes, with players like Shroud now slamming Embark for having “zero control over their game”. Shroud made the announcement during a recent live stream before giving the studio the benefit of the doubt, saying, “They've been on vacation so I'll give them some time.” However, he goes on to say, “If there's no meaningful change in the next week, two weeks, what's the point of playing?”

It's not just cheaters ruining the fun for streamers like Shroud. Various other massive content creators such as TheBurntPeanut, TimTheTatMan, and Cloakzy are growing increasingly frustrated with the amount of stream snipers infesting their lobbies on a daily basis. As for “normal” players, exploits also spoil the fun on maps like Stella Montis as players find more and more ways to get out of the map and kill others unfairly.

Shroud's comments clearly show his frustration with the game, but it's probably even more irritating because at its core ARC Raiders is an excellent game. After winning Best Multiplayer Game at the 2025 awards, many are wondering if the extraction shooter Embark will be the next big thing. If Embark is able to take care of cheaters, deliver meaningful content updates at a steady pace, and balance the game properly, there's a good chance that ARC Raiders sticks around for a long time. Despite his frustration, Shroud even believes it ARC Raiders can be greater than Fortnite. It's a pretty bold claim, but there's no denying that the shooter has tons of potential.

Fans are also increasingly frustrated with overpowered items and weapons like the Trigger Nade that has become the new meta in recent weeks. Players expected a new update to arrive this week with some new balance tweaks and bug fixes, but the community was disappointed when the only thing that arrived was a new shop rotation. Fortunately, Embark said it is working on a new update for the ARC Raiderswith nerfs to Stitcher and Trigger Nade on the way. As of writing this patch, there is still no release date, but the studio has previously stated that it will release new updates every Tuesday, which should means it will arrive on January 13th. But again it was not confirmed.