The game title probably ended up on Activision’s list of banned terms by mistake – and was thus on a par with insults. But Embark Studios is likely to be happy about that.
The current open beta of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 naturally includes a swear word filter for the chat. It does its simple but important job very reliably. Perhaps a little too eagerly.
In addition to terms such as “asshole,” the name of an upcoming shooter competitor was also censored: Arc Raiders was thus displayed as **********. Activision has since claimed that this was a text filter error (without explaining exactly how it happened). It should be fixed shortly. After that, you’ll be able to talk about it freely and with impunity in the lobby if you want to.
For the developers of Arc Raiders, the Swedish studio Embark, the matter was probably not a bad thing at all. Quite the contrary, in fact.
Embark takes it in stride and seizes the opportunity
After beta participants discovered the curious filter and posts about it went viral, Embark immediately seized the perfect opportunity for a little marketing gag. Here’s what their post on X (formerly Twitter) looked like:
We’re still on track to release *** ******* on October 30th! pic.twitter.com/YfV6vacqfE
— ARC Raiders (@ARCRaidersGame) October 6, 2025
We are still on track to release *** ******* on October 30!
The same thing recently happened at another studio: Arc Raiders was also censored in EA’s app when entered into the chat. PC Gamer speculates that both companies use the same third-party provider, which is where this classification error occurs.
The unexpected additional reach that the studio achieved as a result is likely to have delighted the developers shortly before release. If you want to try Arc Raiders uncensored for yourself, there will be an open server slam on all platforms from October 17 to 19 – in other words, a beta as a stress test before the final release.
Arc Raiders is currently one of the most wanted shooters on Steam, causing a stir with its surprisingly low system requirements and stylish graphics. In this multiplayer extraction shooter from former Battlefield developers, you shoot your way through the post-apocalypse.
Our expert Phil explains in the article linked above why the game could bring a breath of fresh air to an oversaturated genre.
