Embark Studios has confirmed that the "aggression rating" used to sort players into matchmaking pools in its extraction shooter Arc Raiders will only be affected by player-versus-player fights that a player deliberately starts, not combat they're drawn into or forced to defend against. The move addresses a common concern in extraction shooters, where players fear being unfairly penalised or funnelled into tougher lobbies simply for surviving an ambush rather than for being genuinely aggressive.

The system is designed to track intent rather than raw kill counts, so raiders who avoid unnecessary fights and focus on looting or completing objectives should not see their rating rise from defensive encounters. Embark has framed this as part of a broader effort to make matchmaking feel fairer and to reward tactical, non-aggressive playstyles, giving players more confidence that their behaviour in the game, rather than bad luck, determines who they are matched against.