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Map Design Masterclass: What Arc Raiders Can Learn from Old Maps to Build Better New Ones

vvideogames

2026-02-11

10 min read

Design-focused guide for Embark and the Arc Raiders community on turning legacy maps into enduring, playable new maps in 2026.

Map Design Masterclass: What Arc Raiders Can Learn from Old Maps to Build Better New Ones

Hook: If you are tired of new maps feeling hollow, or if you are a designer at Embark trying to expand Arc Raiders without losing the soul of the original levels, this piece is for you. In 2026, with multiple maps on the roadmap, the question is not just how many maps to ship, but how to design them so they endure, teach players, and keep matches feeling fresh.

there are going to be multiple maps coming this year, and theyll be across a spectrum of size to try to facilitate different types of gameplay

— design lead Virgil Watkins, paraphrased from early 2026 interviews

Executive summary: the most important lessons up front

Preserve readability — players should know where to go and why within 20 to 40 seconds
Anchor landmarks make each map memorable and reduce cognitive overload
Design for multiple scales — small, medium, and large maps need different rhythm and mechanics
Telemetry must drive iteration — map heatmaps, flow lines, and objective timings inform real fixes
Respect legacy maps by maintaining them as training ground and community hubs

Why the old maps matter — a 2026 perspective

Arc Raiders already has five core locales that players know intimately: Dam Battlegrounds, Buried City, Spaceport, Blue Gate, and Stella Montis. Nearly 100 hours into some maps, veterans develop instincts: choke points to avoid, lanes to dominate, and audio cues that telegraph enemy spawns. That institutional knowledge is invaluable. New maps that ignore the lessons baked into these legacy maps risk alienating long-term players and fragmenting the playerbase.

In 2026 the industry trend is clear: players crave both novelty and mastery. UK devs and studios worldwide are shipping maps as persistent ecosystems, not one-off arenas. Hybrid workflows combining hand-crafted encounter design with AI-assisted layout generation have become mainstream. That means Embark can scale map output while still preserving crafted readability.

Lessons from legacy maps: What works and why

Look at the classics across genres — Dust II from competitive shooters, Halo maps that balanced verticality and sightlines, Left 4 Dead's pacing loops — and you find recurring motifs that Arc Raiders can adopt.

1. Readability first

Legacy maps succeed because a new player can orient themselves quickly. Use a limited, consistent visual language for objectives, traversal, and dangerous zones. In Arc Raiders, a raid or extraction objective should have a distinct texture, lighting halo, and audio motif so teams can coordinate without needing a minimap.

2. Anchor landmarks and memory hooks

Unique landmarks act as mental shortcuts. Stella Montis feels maze-like because its corridors shift, but players still orient around a few memorable set pieces. Preserve and exaggerate those signature elements so players can say, 'Meet me at the broken sculpture by the water pipe.'

3. Sightlines and cover balance

Successful legacy maps control sightlines to create meaningful risk versus reward decisions. Avoid long, unbroken sightlines that favour a single playstyle; instead, layer mid-range visibility with breakable cover, elevation, and flank routes.

4. Flow and pacing

Left 4 Dead teaches us that pacing is built into map topology: safe rooms, funnels, and crescendo arenas. Arc Raiders should design flow that supports staged escalations, letting squads prepare, engage, and disengage in ways that feel cinematic without being chaotic.

5. Emergent routes over scripted corridors

Players love discovering creative paths. Incorporating multiple viable routes to objectives creates tactical depth. Legacy maps that allow for emergent strategies stay fresh longer in the meta.

Applying those lessons to Arc Raiders: concrete, map-sized advice

Small maps: lightning-fast, high clarity

Design goals: short engagement loops, immediate clarity, and high tempo.

Limit objectives to 1 or 2 high-value interactions so squads focus on intense firefights.
Make vertical options compact and readable; avoid multi-floor maze complexity.
Prioritise audio and particle cues to quickly telegraph enemy types or objective states.
Use modular geometry so small maps can be rotated or mirrored to increase variety.

Medium maps: balanced lanes and emergent play

Design goals: multiple lanes, deliberate chokepoints, and tactical depth.

Ensure three viable lanes of approach with at least one risk-reward route that offers faster access but greater exposure.
Design central hubs that act as anchor points but avoid creating a single dominant control node.
Use sightline blockers and mid-map cover to encourage flanking and team coordination.

Large maps: spectacle with purpose

Design goals: story-rich spaces, varied traversal, and scalable encounters.

Divide the map into distinct zones with clear travel routes and natural choke transition points.
Include optional high-risk objectives that reward exploration and skill.
Implement traversal tools or gadgets that make long distances feel tactical rather than tedious.

Map archetypes Arc Raiders should embrace

Different gameplay types require different map DNA. Below are archetypes matched to Arc Raiders' cooperative, objective-driven play.

Arena: controlled firefight

Short loops, fixed spawn points, designed for boss encounters and timed heists.
Use telegraphed hazard phases and dynamic cover to avoid stale stalemates.

Extraction: moving objective

Players escort or retrieve an item across zones that change threat levels as they progress.
Balance safe funnels with flank opportunities and supply drops to force decisions.

Hunt: dynamic events

Staged spawn waves and roaming bosses that create emergent engagement points.
Use audio and environment changes to telegraph boss phases so teams can prepare.

Infiltration: stealth and approach

Maps built for alternative playstyles, where stealth traversal and hacking create tension.
Offer multiple low-profile routes; make noise a resource with trade-offs.

Telemetry and metrics: the designer's diagnostic toolkit

Waiting for player feedback in forums is not enough. Build map health dashboards fed by live telemetry. Key metrics to track:

Time-to-objective: median time for squads to reach each objective
Engagement heatmaps: where fights cluster and where players linger
Death density per sector: indicators of choke or balance problems
Objective success rates: which zones are too easy or too hard
Respawn delta: average time lost due to long travel after death

Use these metrics to create targeted fixes: shift cover, tweak spawn points, adjust objective placement, or add soft barriers. UK dev teams have been increasingly sharing best practice for telemetry-informed iteration in 2025 and early 2026, and Embark should codify these into a map health standard. Consider how to publish anonymised telemetry snapshots so community makers can learn while protecting player privacy.

Iteration workflow: a practical roadmap

Prototype 0-3 months: block out macro flow at low fidelity, validate read time and lane viability internally.
Closed playtests 3-6 months: gather heatmaps, timed runs, and qualitative notes from core players.
Telemetry-driven polish 6-12 months: refine spawn logic, audio cues, and objective clarity.
Public beta 12-18 months: limited live rollout with variant queues and telemetry flags for rapid rollback — pair with inexpensive streaming and capture kits for rapid feedback (low-cost streaming devices).
Live ops and seasonal rotation 18+ months: create variants, events, and new objectives to keep the map evolving.

Why Embark should not abandon the old maps

Legacy maps are not just nostalgia; they are training grounds. New players learn role responsibilities and meta on these maps. Removing them or letting them decay is a retention risk. Instead, adopt a stewardship model:

Refactor old maps for performance gains and modern lighting while preserving core routes and landmarks.
Create scaled variants of older maps for new gameplay types, like compact arenas based on a mid-map section.
Offer legacy and remix playlists so veterans and newcomers can pick the experience they want. (Don’t forget existing reward flows and how players claim legacy content — see why you should keep legacy rewards.)

Community-first design: open the process

2026 has accelerated the acceptance of community-driven content. UK devs and indie teams have shown that early access map editors and contests produce high-quality variants and keep players invested.

Run map design jams with players and creators; treat the best submissions as inspiration for official maps — community networks are powerful sources of ideas (gaming communities as link sources).
Publish anonymised telemetry snapshots so community map makers can learn what works.
Support mod tools or a curated map workshop to extend map lifespan and discover novel gameplay types.

Accessibility, clarity, and fair play

Good map design is inclusive design. Make sure visual contrast, iconography, and audio cues are accessible to players with vision or hearing differences. Consider these practical steps:

High-contrast objective markers with optional HUD indicators.
Adjustable audio mixing levels for footsteps and cues.
Map variants with simplified geometry for players who prefer fewer traversal demands.

Case study: redesign checklist for Stella Montis

Stella Montis is beloved but polarising. Use this checklist approach if Embark wants a refreshed Stella Montis for 2026.

Map audit: identify 3 anchor landmarks, 2 primary lanes, and 2 risky shortcuts.
Telemetry review: map death density, time-to-objective, and engagement hotspots.
Clarity passes: enhance lighting and texture contrast around objectives and choke points.
Route validation: add mid-level platforms or zip lines to reduce long traverse penalties.
Variant creation: build a compact arena from the central lobby and a grand variant with expanded exterior sections.
Community test: invite top community squads for a curated beta and collect qualitative feedback.

Advanced strategies and future predictions for 2026 and beyond

Expect the following developments to shape map design over the next 12 to 24 months:

AI-assisted layout generation: not full automation, but tools that propose route networks and object placement for quicker prototyping.
Procedural touches with handcrafted anchors: hybrid maps where procedural zones feed into hand-designed anchor encounters.
Crossplay-aware balance: maps tuned to mitigate input and latency advantages between platforms.
Persistent environment states: maps that change over live operations through weather, time of day, or player-driven events.

Practical takeaways for designers, producers, and community leads

Create a map health checklist and automated telemetry alerts for regressions.
Ship smaller map variants first to broaden gameplay types without heavy resource cost.
Keep legacy maps as part of the onboarding experience and rotate them into ranked pools.
Use community makers as an auxiliary pipeline for fresh ideas and long-tail content.
Prioritise readability, anchor landmarks, and emergent routes over visual spectacle alone.

Final thoughts: building maps that become second homes

Arc Raiders is at an inflection point in 2026. Embark has the opportunity to expand the map roster across sizes and gameplay types while keeping the soul of the original levels intact. The secret is not to chase sheer quantity, but to adopt principled design: readability, anchors, telemetry-led iteration, and community stewardship. Legacy maps are not expendable; they are the cultural memory of the game.

If you are a designer at Embark or a community creator in the UK or beyond, treat each new map as both a new playground and a bridge back to the old favourites. That is how maps stop being disposable content and start becoming second homes for players.

Call to action

Want to help shape the next wave of Arc Raiders maps? Join your community test squads, share heatmap insights on creator channels, or submit a concept for a map jam. If you are a designer, use the checklist in this article on your next prototype and let us know the results. Follow videogames.org.uk for follow-up case studies and detailed telemetry templates tailored for Arc Raiders and similar co-op shooters.

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