Arc Raiders' PvE-friendly event starts today: 'This is an opportunity to team up in the fight against the machines'

Arc Raiders skins: Key art showing three characters. The one on the left is wearing a blue pincho and holding a pistol ready at their hip. The middle figure is wearing a brown poncho and cowboy hat, facing the camera with a pistol across their chest. On the right is another character in a brown poncho and hat but facing away.

If you boil it down, there are only two kinds of Arc Raiders players: those who like helping one another in the face of certain death and huge arcs, and those who prefer PvP. It seems to be quite a divisive choice within the community, but Embark is choosing to encourage a friendly playstyle during an in-game event that starts today.

Shared Watch is a new annual holiday event "that reminds us of the true enemy, by celebrating those that look out for their fellow raiders," an official blog post says. "Tolerate, team-up, or take out some Arc—it's all in the spirit of the Shared Watch."

(Image credit: Embark Studios)

This is not the dedicated PvE mode that some players have been asking for since Arc Raiders' release, as you can still gladly kill whoever you want, but for the first time, you're encouraged not to.

"Players will earn merits from destroying, assisting and damaging ARC and earn rewards," the post says. "No merits will be earned from PvP encounters. Bring a friend or bring a stranger, but above all, bring enough ammo to make sure the machines notice you first."

Embark has actually said in the past that Arc Raiders wasn't built with PvP in mind, that gunning down fellow raiders doesn't fit in with the ethos of the game. The other side of that coin is that the danger of other players is what gives Arc Raiders its tension, and you don't want to completely lose that. Still, it's nice that Embark has created an occasion to put down our pitchforks and come together.