Why Is ARC Raiders Not Working? ART00004 Network Timeout Error Explained
The festive season of 2025 was meant to be a high point for fans of the hit extraction shooter ARC Raiders, but for many, the night before Christmas and Christmas morning were spent staring at loading screens rather than navigating the lethal surface of future Earth. On December 25, 2025, ARC Raiders experienced a massive global connectivity disruption that left hundreds of thousands of players locked out of their favorite PvPvE experience.
Reports began to surge in the early hours of Christmas Day, with players encountering persistent login failures and the now infamous ART00004 error code. As players worldwide attempted to log in to test new hardware or engage with the Cold Snap update, the situation remained volatile, casting a shadow over what was expected to be a peak period for Embark Studios' latest title.
The Magnitude of the Holiday Outage
The disruption was not a minor glitch. Data from outage tracking platforms like Downdetector showed a massive spike in user reports, with thousands of players in the United States alone reporting issues during the peak of the event. Globally, the numbers were even more staggering; some estimates suggested that upwards of 346,000 active players were unable to connect to the game servers at the height of the Christmas Day surge.
The outage was characterized by a Network Timeout message, specifically identifying a failure to retrieve data from backend services. According to data analysis, the vast majority of player complaints were related to these server connection failures, while the remainder of the issues involved matchmaking errors or players getting stuck in infinite login queues. For an extraction shooter where timing and persistence are key, the inability to log in resulted in significant community frustration and lost in game progress for those disconnected mid raid.
Understanding the ART00004 Error
The error code ART00004 has become the focal point of the recent ARC Raiders downtime. The message accompanying the code typically reads: "Retrieving data from backend services timed out please try again later." This indicates that while the player local client may be functional, it cannot establish a stable handshake with the game central servers.
In the context of the December 2025 outage, this error was likely triggered by extreme server congestion. Christmas is traditionally one of the heaviest gaming days of the year, as new hardware is activated and holiday breaks provide players with ample time to play. When player counts for ARC Raiders surged, the backend infrastructure simply struggled to manage the volume of authentication and matchmaking requests.
Embark Studios Response and Status Update
Embark Studios, the developer behind ARC Raiders, eventually acknowledged the situation through their community channels. A statement released on December 25 confirmed that the team was aware of the connection issues and was actively investigating. However, as is common with major holiday outages, a definitive Estimated Time of Restoration (ETA) was not immediately provided.
The studio noted that they are working on a fix to restore server functionality, but they urged patience as the team monitors the situation during the peak holiday traffic. This delay in restoration led some players to speculate about potential broader issues with cloud infrastructure, especially as other titles like Fortnite and Rocket League reported similar, albeit less severe, hiccups during the same period.
Troubleshooting and Local Fixes
While the core issue remains on the server side, there are several steps players can take to ensure their own local setup is not contributing to the problem once the servers begin to stabilize:
Power Cycle Your Network: Fully shut down your PC or console and unplug your router for at least 60 seconds. This clears any temporary cache that might be preventing a fresh connection to the game backend.
Verify Integrity of Game Files: On PC via Steam, right clicking ARC Raiders and selecting Verify Integrity of Game Files can fix corrupted data that may have occurred during a forced disconnection.
Switch to Wired Connection: Wi Fi is prone to packet loss, which can exacerbate timeout errors during periods of high server load. Using an Ethernet cable provides a more stable path for authentication.
Avoid VPNs: Some players use VPNs to reduce lag, but during an outage, these can interfere with the authentication protocols required to enter the login queue.
A Lesson in Live Service Resilience
The Christmas 2025 outage serves as a reminder of the inherent risks of live service gaming. As ARC Raiders continues to build its player base following its successful late 2025 launch, the pressure on its infrastructure will only grow. While the Cold Snap update brought exciting new content and map conditions, the inability for players to access that content during the holidays highlights a need for more robust, scalable server solutions during seasonal peaks.
For now, the community remains in a state of wait and see. Players are advised to monitor the official ARCRaidersGame account on X and join the official Discord for real time updates. As the holiday rush begins to subside, stability is expected to return, allowing Raiders to finally head back out into the world.