ARC Raiders matchmaking finds players then fails to start

ARC Raiders matchmaking searches forever or fails after finding players. Restarting sometimes works, which makes the cause hard to pin down.

How should region, cross-play, party size, firewall, and cross-platform squads, Easy Anti-Cheat, matchmaking, and shader compilation be tested before assuming the servers are down?

Start with party consistency.

1. Everyone restarts the game and launcher.
2. Confirm matching versions, cross-play settings, region, and privacy.
3. Make the player with the most open NAT the party leader.
4. Remove VPNs and pause background traffic.
5. Test solo queue for every member.
6. Rebuild the party one player at a time.

For ARC Raiders, include cross-platform squads, Easy Anti-Cheat, matchmaking, and shader compilation. If solo works for all but the full party fails, compare the last player added before reinstalling anything.