ARC Raiders: the three-part Phantom Targets event explained

1 September 2026 · 4 min read

GameMapa editorial · how we check facts
Checked: Claude (AI) — fact-checked against the Ukrainian original; not proofread by a native speaker

The Phantom Targets event in ARC Raiders unfolded across three consecutive updates — from the first broken antennas to a final hunt for glitching Wasps and the Anomalia outfit. Here’s what’s actually confirmed in Embark’s official patch notes, stage by stage, and where the confirmed facts stop.

Quick facts

• Part 1 — Store Update 1.40.0, August 4, 2026: repair antennas, triangulate signals.
• Part 2 — Live Update 1.42.0, August 18, 2026: the source is revealed — erratic Wasps.
• Finale — Store Update 1.43.0, August 25, 2026: rewards confirmed, event runs through September 6, 2026.

Not one announcement, three patches

The developer didn’t drop Phantom Targets in a single post. Instead, the event unfolded gradually across three updates in a row — the same way ARC Raiders has previously threaded story beats through patches like 1.42.0 and 1.43.0. If you only read one of the three sets of notes, you’re missing part of the picture.

Part 1: the broken antennas

Store Update 1.40.0 went live on August 4, 2026 and kicked off the first stage of a new Player Project. According to the official description, Shani had noticed strange discrepancies in surveillance data but didn’t yet know their source. Players were asked to repair broken antennas, triangulate signals, and act against ARC in unconventional ways — that’s the exact framing in the patch notes, with no specifics yet on what was actually causing the anomaly.

At this stage, the developer hadn’t named Wasps as the cause of anything — it only said Part 2 of the project would arrive alongside update 1.42.0.

Part 2: Shani finds the source

Live Update 1.42.0 launched on August 18, 2026, and this is where the answer showed up. A patch notes section titled “Phantom Targets Revealed” states directly: with players’ help, Shani finally identified the source of the phantom signals — Wasps behaving unusually. They make strange noises, fly irregular patterns, carry unidentified tech, and are all converging on a single location. The official text adds that Shani needs further help figuring out what’s waiting for them there.

This is the turning point of the story: before this update, players were fighting the anomaly blind; now there was a concrete target — erratic Wasps.

The finale and the full reward list

Store Update 1.43.0 arrived on August 25, 2026 and confirmed two things at once. First, the Phantom Targets event officially runs through September 6, 2026. Second, the patch notes finally listed the complete reward set for participating:

• the Anomalia outfit
• the Finger Guns Wave emote
• the Trashpile Bag
• Raider Tokens

The developer’s own wording is direct: players need to “hunt those erratic Wasps for their strange glitched tech” to earn credit toward the event. The same reward list and the same end date are independently repeated in the official Steam announcement for this update, published by the developer in sync, outside arcraiders.com.

Wasp Week: a separate community contest

Running alongside the event’s finale was a separate contest, Wasp Week. The developer invited players to submit videos of themselves riding Wasps, snap-hooking them into the ground, or provoking a swarm with scanners. The top 5 clips were promised a spot in a dedicated Community Highlights episode, and winners were promised a Wasp Hunter DLC set. This is formally a separate community activity, not part of the Phantom Targets rewards themselves, though it’s thematically tied to the same Wasps.

What we’re not claiming

We’re drawing a hard line here at what’s actually confirmed.

• We don’t state an exact cutoff time for the September 6 end date — the patch notes give only a date, no time.
• We don’t state specific drop rates or the number of actions required to complete the event — those figures aren’t in the official notes.
• We don’t claim the Wasp Hunter DLC is part of the Phantom Targets rewards — that’s the Wasp Week contest prize.
• We don’t recap unrelated technical patch notes from the same updates — that’s a separate topic.

Where to go from here

For general update context, our updates and patches guide tracks the version history. And if you want more on the enemy type behind this whole event, we’ve got a separate breakdown of ARC machine types.

Bottom line

Phantom Targets isn’t one patch — it’s a story spread across three updates: 1.40.0 (August 4, antenna repairs), 1.42.0 (August 18, erratic Wasps revealed), and 1.43.0 (August 25, rewards confirmed, running through September 6). Completing it earns the Anomalia outfit, the Finger Guns Wave emote, the Trashpile Bag, and Raider Tokens. A separate Wasp Week contest ran in parallel, with its own Wasp Hunter DLC prize.