Score one for the players who wouldn't stop asking, because Embark Studios is finally letting them opt out of getting shot by strangers. A dedicated PvE toggle for Arc Raiders runs as a test from October 13 through October 20, and for once the studio isn't hiding the request behind a weird map condition on some beta server nobody outside China could reach.

Credit where it's due, though, because Bungie got there first. Marathon added its own PvE modes back in July and actually saw a real, if brief, bump in players for the trouble. That's a point I'm not thrilled to hand over, but a scorekeeper who only counts his own side isn't a scorekeeper.

Embark isn't dressed up like it just solved the problem, either. The studio's own press release, as reported by GameSpot, admits flat out that "it's possible that this will not work" and that this test is not a promise of anything permanent. Given that Embark says 37% of raiders already play cooperative-only, and that 70% of them, plus 40% of PvP players, want fewer hostile encounters, you'd think the math does the arguing for them.

So does this become the permanent mode? Maybe.

That's the honest answer, and Marathon's own fade after its bump is the reason nobody should get comfortable yet. What happens between October 13 and 20 will decide it, and it lands just days after the Frozen Trail update, detailed by the channel Espresso in its rundown of the patch, drops on October 8 with a new map, fresh weapons, and a pile of quality-of-life fixes.

PvE toggle test runs October 13-20, sharing lobbies across solos, duos, and trios
Night Raids, Hidden Bunker, Locked Gate, and Frigate stay PvP-only
Frozen Trail update lands October 8 with a new map and weapons
Embark says 37% of players are cooperative-only, with 70% of them wanting fewer hostile encounters

A game that listens this closely to its own numbers has earned one more week of my attention. Xbox, take notes on what that actually looks like.