ARC Raiders update 1.26 brings free PS5 Pro PSSR upgrade, promising cleaner visuals in Riven Tides

Embark Studios is rolling out a free PlayStation 5 Pro visual upgrade for ARC Raiders with update 1.26, due on April 28. The patch adds support for an upgraded version of PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, Sony’s machine-learning upscaling tech designed to sharpen image output.

According to PlayStation, the new PSSR implementation analyzes each frame to reconstruct a clearer picture, with the biggest gains expected in dense, detail-heavy scenes.

The update also targets common artifacts such as flickering, shimmering and ghosting, particularly on translucent effects like rainfall.

What PS5 Pro players should notice?

The improved PSSR mode is exclusive to PS5 Pro, positioning the enhanced upscaling as a key differentiator for the mid-generation console.

Players on the standard PS5 will continue using Temporal Super Resolution, and the developer says that setup is unchanged by the patch.

Embark has indicated it will keep looking for ways to raise image quality as newer techniques become available, suggesting further visual tuning may follow. For a competitive extraction shooter where spotting movement matters, cleaner edges and steadier motion can have an outsized impact.

Riven Tides aims to refresh

Update 1.26 also arrives alongside Riven Tides, which the studio has described as its biggest content drop to date for ARC Raiders. The release introduces a new map and adds the ARC Turbine, expanding the game’s roster of hostile machines.

The timing is notable as the game moves deeper into its post-launch cycle and player activity naturally stabilizes after an early surge. With Riven Tides and a PS5 Pro-specific PSSR boost landing together, Embark is signaling that long-term support remains a priority.