Arc Raiders has been given another big new update, as the Shared Watch event goes live for the next two weeks.

Fans of the popular extraction shooter will be pleased to hear that the Shared Watch event is a chance to earn additional Merits through acts of teamwork. It’s not such good news for PvP fans, because “no merits will be earned from PvP encounters”.

Instead, players will earn merits from destroying, assisting and damaging ARC, whether with friends or with strangers. The event runs until February 24.

In addition to the Shared Watch event, Embark has confirmed that the Cold Snap weather conditions will also make a return as part of the new update.

Needless to say, the freezing conditions can lead to frostbite damage, but the rewards will be greater. Players can also collect Candleberries and snowballs, but this time just for fun.

Elsewhere, Embark has made lots of small gameplay tweaks and bug fixes, which you can read about in the patch notes below.

One fix we’re particularly happy to see is that Embark has improved instances where players sometimes could not reconnect after disconnecting from a game.

• This is an opportunity to team up in the fight against the machines.

 – The Shared Watch Event starts today and ends on February 24.

 – Players will earn merits from destroying, assisting and damaging ARC and earn rewards.

 – No merits will be earned from PvP encounters.

• Winter is not quite done with the Rust Belt – We are bringing back Cold Snap!

 – The map condition is back in rotation on outdoor maps with the same mix of risk and reward.

 – Frostbite damage will make your trip topside a short one if you don’t seek shelter, but for those who do brave the tundra – there’s increased loot value at stake!

• Improved instances where players sometimes could not reconnect after disconnecting from a game.

• Fixed an issue where the match start tunnel scene sometimes wasn’t being shown.

• Fixed an issue where trials’ objective rewards could fail to grant at the end of a round due to a timeout, ensuring partial rewards are awarded when earned.

• Fixed an issue where the end of round screen would sometimes show incorrect merits, XP, and Live Event points.

• Fixed an issue where players’ platform icons would sometimes show incorrectly.

• Fixed an issue where crafting would sometimes get cancelled.

 – The explosions no longer deal damage through walls.

 – Deals more damage to small enemies but less damage to bigger enemies such as the Leaper and Bastion.

• Fixed inconsistent weapon cycling when bound to keys other than the mouse wheel; keybinds now swap weapons reliably.