Embark Studios is about to give ARC Raiders a serious visual glow-up on PS5 Pro, and it won’t cost players a cent. Update 1.26 lands April 28, 2026, adding an upgraded version of PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) alongside the game’s biggest content drop yet, Riven Tides—a new map, a new large ARC threat, and multiple new activities designed to pull lapsed raiders back into the Rust Belt.
This matters because it’s not just another “sharper image” bullet point: Embark is calling out concrete wins—less flicker and shimmer, better motion reconstruction, and reduced ghosting on translucent effects like rain—without performance reductions on PS5 Pro.
The Free PS5 Pro Upgrade: What’s Actually Changing
Update 1.26 introduces the upgraded PSSR implementation specifically for PS5 Pro. PSSR is a machine-learning-based upscaling technique that analyzes the image “pixel by pixel” to reconstruct a sharper output, and Embark is positioning this new version as a meaningful step forward in image stability.
Here’s what Embark says PS5 Pro players should notice immediately:
- A crisper, more stable image with significantly reduced flickering and shimmering, especially in complex scenes.
- Better reconstruction of objects in motion, with moving geometry handled more accurately than “traditional upscaling techniques.” Embark specifically calls out things like foliage movement and fast-moving ARC drones.
- Reduced ghosting on translucent effects, a common pain point for upscalers due to limited motion-vector data on particles and transparency. ARC Raiders’ rain system is highlighted as a clear example that should look “noticeably cleaner.”
Embark’s Mikael Linderholm (Technical Art Director) says the improved PSSR lets the team deliver “increased image quality and stability… without any performance reductions,” aiming to reduce visual noise and distractions while you’re scavenging or fighting. Robert Kihl (Engine Lead) also emphasizes that the improved PSSR brings “significant improvements” in scenarios with lots of small details in motion, and notes the results held up across the game’s variety of environments and firefights with particles and dynamic lighting.
Crucially: this is being framed as a free upgrade for PS5 Pro users, delivered as part of the patch.
What About Base PS5 Players?
If you’re on the standard PlayStation 5, nothing is being taken away—but nothing changes either. Base PS5 players will continue using TSR (Temporal Super Resolution) upscaling, which Embark says remains unchanged by update 1.26.
Is This “PSSR2”?
Some coverage refers to the incoming tech as PSSR2 or “Enhanced PSSR.” Embark’s own language on the PlayStation Blog describes it as the “new upgraded version” of PSSR arriving with update 1.26. Either way, the practical takeaway is the same: PS5 Pro gets the upgraded PSSR implementation on April 28, and it’s designed to reduce common upscaling artifacts while improving clarity and motion handling.
Riven Tides Is the Real Headliner — The Upgrade Is the Cherry on Top
The PS5 Pro visual boost is arriving alongside Riven Tides, which Embark has positioned as ARC Raiders’ biggest update since launch (the game launched in October 2025). And honestly, that pairing is smart: if you’re going to tempt players back, you do it with a new place to explore, new threats to fear, and a cleaner image to sell the fantasy.
A New Map: Riven Tides (Rust Belt Coastline)
The new Riven Tides map is set in the Rust Belt, featuring a coastline, a resort, and a dockyard. The vibe appears intentionally different from existing maps—more seaside scavenging and open-sky tension than the usual industrial dread.
It’s also the first new map since Stella Montis, which arrived with the North Line update in November 2025, meaning this is a major injection of fresh routes, fresh sightlines, and fresh extraction decisions.
A New Large ARC Threat: The Arc Turbine
Riven Tides also adds a new large ARC enemy: the Arc Turbine.
Embark describes it as cone-shaped and flying, with defensive measures that make it dangerous to raiders tracking it. It’s explicitly positioned as a big deal—something that can dominate a run if you choose to engage, and something you may want to avoid if you’re trying to extract with loot instead of picking a fight you can’t finish.
Beachcombing: A New Map Condition With Risk Baked In
Riven Tides introduces a new minor map condition called Beachcombing, which revolves around using the Dockmaster’s Detector to search for buried loot. It’s a literal metal detector you equip like a weapon—meaning it takes up a weapon slot, and the “richest hunting grounds” are out in the open.
That’s a classic Embark-style tradeoff: the game tempts you with treasure, then asks what you’re willing to sacrifice to get it—firepower, awareness, or time.
New Items to Control Movement and Fall Damage
Two new items are coming with the update:
- Crash Mat / Crashpad (listed with slightly different naming across coverage)
- Powered Descender
Both are aimed at mitigating fall damage and expanding traversal options—exactly the kind of subtle systemic additions that can reshape how squads rotate through a map once the community starts optimizing routes.
Events, Projects, and Progression: Riven Tides Is Packed
Embark isn’t just dropping a map and calling it a day. Riven Tides arrives with multiple progression hooks meant to keep players busy well beyond the first weekend.
Last Resort Limited-Time Event (April 28 – May 25)
A limited-time event called Last Resort runs from April 28 to May 25. Players are encouraged to find Ship Models to earn Merits, which can be exchanged for rewards including:
- Raider Tokens
- Junior Outfit
- Hydrologist backpack
Additionally, XP earned from matches (on any map) is converted into Merits during the event window, giving players a reason to keep playing even if they’re not living exclusively in the new seaside zone.
Avian Alarm Raider Project (Five Stages)
Riven Tides adds a five-stage raider project called Avian Alarm, described as a bird-catching/building-cages endeavor on the coast. Completing it is important for unlocking the Dockmaster’s Detector used for Beachcombing, and it also offers rewards including:
- Raider Tokens
- Bird House backpack attachment (and other cosmetics/rewards are mentioned)
- Additional items like Gel Patches are also listed among rewards in some coverage
A New Expedition Window (Runs Until May 11)
Riven Tides also kicks off a new Expedition window that lasts until May 11. Beyond the date, Embark hasn’t fully outlined every detail in the same place, but it’s clearly part of the update’s broader push to refresh the live-service cadence and give players a new set of goals to chase.
Trials Are Being Reworked
Alongside the content, Trials are being reworked to remove scheduling issues that have been frustrating players since release. That’s not as flashy as a new map, but it’s the kind of quality-of-life fix that can quietly improve retention—especially for players who bounce off live-service games when progression systems feel like chores.
Release Date, Platforms, and Timing
ARC Raiders: Riven Tides and update 1.26 go live Tuesday, April 28, 2026 on:
- PlayStation 5
- PS5 Pro (with upgraded PSSR)
- Xbox Series X|S
- Windows PC
A widely circulated global release time is 2:00 AM PT / 9:00 AM UTC on April 28, with region-by-region conversions also shared (for example: 5:00 AM ET, 10:00 AM BST, 11:00 AM CEST, 6:00 PM JST).
Why This PS5 Pro Upgrade Is a Bigger Deal Than It Sounds
Upscaling talk can get abstract fast, but ARC Raiders is exactly the kind of game where image stability matters. Extraction shooters live and die on readability: spotting motion through foliage, tracking targets across cluttered geometry, and parsing particle-heavy firefights without the screen turning into a shimmering mess.
Embark is explicitly targeting the classic pain points—flicker, shimmer, ghosting, and motion reconstruction—and doing it in a way that’s meant to be visible “immediately” in the game’s most detail-rich environments. If that holds up in practice, PS5 Pro players could be looking at the cleanest console presentation of ARC Raiders yet.
And pairing that tech upgrade with Riven Tides is savvy. A new map is when players are most likely to stop and stare—learning landmarks, scanning horizons, and trying to understand new sightlines. That’s also when visual artifacts are most likely to annoy you. A cleaner image isn’t just “prettier”; it can be the difference between feeling confident in a new space and feeling like the game is fighting your eyes.
Embark also says it will “continue to look for opportunities to push image quality further as new technologies become available,” which reads like a studio that’s treating PS5 Pro support as an ongoing target, not a one-and-done patch note.
What Remains Unknown
- Exact technical targets on PS5 Pro (resolution output, performance mode specifics, frame rate targets) have not been detailed in the available announcements.
- Whether Xbox Series X|S or PC receive any comparable upscaling/visual changes in update 1.26 beyond the new content hasn’t been clearly outlined.
- What comes after Riven Tides on the 2026 roadmap: Riven Tides is described as the final remaining content featured on the game’s previously shared 2026 roadmap, and Embark hasn’t yet announced what the next roadmap looks like or how the update cadence will continue through the rest of the year.
