I refreshed the ARC Raiders Discord at 1:59 a.m. and watched messages flood my feed. You can feel the game breathing in those last seconds before a major update. The countdown hangs in chat like a metronome.
I follow these drops closely so you don’t have to guess when to log on. Below I give the exact date and the clock times, plus what I expect to hit your missions and loadouts when Riven Tides arrives.
ARC Raiders Riven Tides countdown
My calendar has a habit: the studio tends to ship big updates on the last Tuesday of the month.
Riven Tides launches worldwide on Tuesday, April 28. The developer has been consistent with this cadence for recent major patches, and the timers below reflect the projected live moments across zones.
The projected live times are:
- 2:00 a.m. PT
- 4:00 a.m. CT
- 5:00 a.m. ET
- 9:00 a.m. UTC
- 10:00 a.m. CET
These slots mirror how prior major updates rolled out. If the studio changes the schedule, I’ll update this page and shout it out across Steam patch notes, the game’s Discord, and X (Twitter).
When does Riven Tides release?
April 28. Mark your calendar and set an alarm if you want to be online the moment servers flip — that’s when new map events and the big enemy encounters become available.
What time will Riven Tides go live in my time zone?
Use the list above and convert to your local clock with a tool like WorldTimeBuddy or the system clock in Steam. If you prefer, follow the official updates on Discord or X for instant confirmation.
What to expect from Riven Tides in ARC Raiders
A short clip of the Topside skyline has already filled feeds with speculation.
The headliner is the new map — the first map added since launch. The studio has teased building silhouettes and environmental hints, but you and I will get the full Topside experience the moment servers go live. The map will land like a tide reshaping the shore, changing how squads move and where objectives cluster.
Beyond terrain, expect a large ARC enemy — the first of its kind since the Matriarch. Whether that foe appears as a recurring map event or a one-off boss is still up in the air, but my bet is on an encounter that forces new weapon and loadout choices.
New weapons and items are likely. New quests should bring extra rewards, and an Expedition window will be available for endgame players. Expeditions reset inventory on entry but hand out cosmetics and additional storage slots as rewards; cosmetic bundles in similar updates have often been priced around $4.99 (≈€5).
If you want to be ready: check Steam patch notes the moment they go live, follow the game’s Discord channel for instant patch summaries, and watch X for developer tweets and hotfix alerts.
Set your alarms and plan your loadout — will you be standing on Topside when the first real test hits?