ARC Raiders: Phantom Targets shuts down on September 6 — and Embark warns that someone else cheating on your account will get you banned

Embark Studios released the Store Update 1.43.0 for ARC Raiders on Tuesday, August 25, 2026. It brings the Roamer Set to the store, and above all the end date the studio hadn't given when it opened the second part of the Phantom Targets project: September 6.

The same post contains a warning of a very different kind, slipped in under an innocuous heading. It fits in one sentence, and it deserves to be read slowly: if someone else cheats from your account, it's your account that gets taken down — whether you gave them access or not.

Names below follow Embark's own English wording, taken from the 1.43.0 store update and the earlier Phantom Targets posts.

The Phantom Targets project countdown is finally public

We had written, on August 20, that Embark wasn't dating the end of the project and that we wouldn't put forward a date. The studio has now given it: the event runs "until September 6."

What's still up for grabs until then, listed by name in the announcement:

The narrative thread is recapped in one line: Shani's investigation into the abnormal behavior of ARC machines continues, and it's still about taking down erratic Guêpes to recover their malfunctioning technology.

The calculation to make before selling anything. We've already flagged this, and it remains true until September 6: this project's milestones require three specific components — Wasp Pilot at the top of the list, along with the Pop Trigger and the Leaper Impulse Unit. These are exactly the parts people dump when their bag is full. Less than two weeks isn't much time to rebuild a stock you liquidated the day before.

The linked accounts rule: banned for someone else's cheating

This is the most important part of the post, and it isn't presented as a gameplay novelty but as a tightening of policy. Embark writes that, in continuing its efforts against cheating, the studio is "paying extra attention to linked accounts."

The rule, as stated: if someone gains access to your account — with your permission or without it — and gets caught cheating, your account may be banned, even if you're not the one who cheated.

Two scenarios are therefore explicitly covered by the same penalty, and that's where the trap lies:

1. The compromised account. Stolen credentials, a session left open on a shared machine, phishing. You're the victim, but the penalty falls on your account.
2. The loaned account. A friend you hand your access to so they can finish an objective, a "helping hand" on a tough milestone. Embark lumps this case in with the previous one: "either with your permission or not".

The second case is the one that will surprise the most people. Lending out your account is a common practice, often seen as harmless. Here, it becomes a bet on someone else's behavior, staked with your in-game progress.

The three measures the studio is asking you to apply

Embark isn't pointing to a setting specific to ARC Raiders: security happens at your connection provider — Steam, Sony, Xbox, or Epic. The three instructions each fit in a single line:

• A strong, unique password. Unique is the key word: a password reused elsewhere exposes you to a leak that has nothing to do with the game.
• Two-factor authentication enabled. It's the only measure that still protects you once your password has leaked.
• Never share your credentials. Stated without exception, and consistent with the rule outlined above.

The studio wraps up on the stakes, in terms that explain the severity: securing your account "protects your progress and keeps the game fair for everyone".

The Roamer Set and Wasp Week

Two lighter points in the same post.

The shop is welcoming the Roamer Set, described as a "heavy duty" set. Embark reminds players that you need to restart the game to receive the latest client version and see the content appear.

Submissions for the special Wasp-themed Community Highlights episode are still open. The studio describes three types of clips it's looking for, and they serve as an inventory of the possible interactions with these machines:

• Having ridden a Wasp in flight.
• Having used a Snap Hook to pull one down to the ground.
• Having angered the swarm by abusing Snitch Scanners.

The five best clips selected will be featured in the episode and will win the Wasp Hunter DLC set.

The team is at gamescom from August 26 to 30

One last scheduling note: the ARC Raiders team is running a booth at gamescom in Cologne, from August 26 to 30. The post mentions merchandise and goodies to pick up on site.

Worth remembering, if you're following the updates closely: a team at a convention is a team that isn't in the office. This week's posts will likely be shorter than usual.

What to do today

1. Enable two-factor authentication with your connection provider, if you haven't already. It's the only one of the three instructions that takes five minutes.
2. Take back any access you may have handed out. The linked-account rule makes no distinction between theft and lending.
3. Hold on to your Pop Triggers, Wasp Pilots, and Leaper Impulse Units until September 6.
4. Restart the game to receive 1.43.0 before your next session.