Embark Studios Roasts Activision After Arc Raiders Name is Censored in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Chat

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The developers of Arc Raiders, Embark Studios, delivered a playful and effective response after their game’s title was inexplicably censored in the lobby chat of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 beta. The studio posted a brilliant, tongue-in-cheek message on social media that read: “We’re still on track to release *** ***** on October 30th!”**—directly referencing the censorship issue.

The Censorship Incident and Activision’s Explanation

The controversy began when players in the ongoing Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 beta discovered that typing the words “Arc Raiders” resulted in a series of asterisks (*** *******), while other competitor names, such as Battlefield 6, were not censored. This immediately fueled speculation of corporate pettiness, given that Arc Raiders is a highly anticipated extraction shooter and a direct competitor to major publishers’ late-year releases.

However, Activision quickly stepped in to explain the incident, claiming the censorship was entirely unintentional and due to an error in their automated text-based moderation system. They stated that the word “Arc” was flagged as an alternate of an inappropriate word, and the system flagged the entire phrase “Arc Raiders” when combined. The developers confirmed that this filter has since been adjusted and the censorship was removed from the Black Ops 7 beta.

A Recurring ‘Filter Glitch’ Across Competitors

What makes this story particularly noteworthy is that the censorship of “Arc Raiders” has happened before, creating a humorous pattern of “accidents” that Embark Studios is now capitalizing on for game rivalry marketing.

• EA App Incident: Several months ago, users reported that the name “ARC Raiders” was also being censored in the EA App chat on PC, an incident that was also quickly patched out after being made public.
• Uncommon Selectivity: In both the Call of Duty and EA instances, the censorship was highly specific to the phrase “Arc Raiders,” with other competitor game titles typing out normally.

Whether a genuine technical error in a third-party moderation tool or a brief, ill-advised moment of corporate defensiveness, the result is free, viral promotion for the smaller studio. Embark Studios’ witty response, complete with a promotional image where their own title is redacted, shows they are taking the entire saga in stride.

Arc Raiders is set to release on October 30th, with an open beta scheduled just two weeks before launch, making the October 30th game launch an increasingly talked-about date.