In the high-stakes world of video game marketing, you can spend millions on ad campaigns, or you can just have your biggest competitor accidentally censor your game's name. For Embark Studios, the developers of the upcoming shooter Arc Raiders, a bizarre glitch in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 provided an unexpected, and brilliantly executed, viral marketing windfall.
The story begins in the open beta for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, which kicked off on October 5th for pre-order owners and Game Pass subscribers. As players flooded into the lobbies, eager to test their skills and the game's newly relaxed skill-based matchmaking (SBMM), a curious thing happened. Whenever someone typed "Arc Raiders" into the in-game chat, the phrase was instantly replaced by a string of asterisks: *** *******.
The catch? Typing "Arc" or "Raiders" individually was perfectly fine. It was only the full title of Embark Studios' game that was deemed too scandalous for public consumption. The gaming community, never one to miss a beat, immediately took notice.
The confusion and speculation quickly coalesced on the game's official subreddit. A now-viral post detailing the bizarre censorship gathered over 1,400 upvotes, with players jokingly theorizing about a secret corporate war heating up between Activision and the much smaller Embark Studios. Was this a petty jab in the crowded fall shooter season? Or was it just another strange day in the world of automated moderation?
The truth, as confirmed by Activision, was far more mundane—and humorous. In a statement to Insider Gaming, Activision's PR team explained the Black Ops 7 error. The issue was traced back to an overzealous text filter. The moderation system had incorrectly flagged the word "Arc" as a potential alternative spelling or shorthand for a completely different, inappropriate term. When combined with "Raiders," the system's safety protocols kicked in, censoring the entire phrase out of an abundance of caution. A patch has since been deployed, and players can now freely discuss Arc Raiders in the Call of Duty lobbies.
This isn't even the first time Arc Raiders has found itself digitally silenced. Back in August, a nearly identical incident occurred on the EA App's chat function, where the title was temporarily replaced with hashtags. That censorship persisted until August 6th before being patched out. The back-to-back incidents have led to user speculation that both EA and Activision may be utilizing a similar third-party chat moderation system, which contained the same quirky, erroneous filter rule.
While corporate giants were busy fixing their filters, the team at Embark Studios saw a golden opportunity. Instead of issuing a sternly worded press release, the studio, founded by ex-DICE developers behind the Battlefield series, decided to lean into the absurdity with a masterclass in tongue-in-cheek marketing.
Taking to their official X (formerly Twitter) account, the Arc Raiders team posted a perfectly timed jab: “We’re still on track to release *** ******* on October 30th!” The post was accompanied by a promotional image for the game, with its own title comically redacted. The response from the gaming community was overwhelmingly positive, transforming a minor technical glitch into a major talking point.
The free publicity has served as a powerful amplifier for the hype surrounding Arc Raiders. The game, a stylish third-person sci-fi extraction shooter, is poised to make a splash in a competitive market. It's currently gearing up for its own Open Beta from October 17-20, leading into its full release on October 30, 2025.
Meanwhile, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 continues its beta testing, which runs until October 9th and includes a new 6v6 map called Toshin. The title is still on track for its full global release on November 14, 2025. In other Activision news, the company recently proudly announced that its Ricochet anti-cheat has banned 97% of detected cheaters, ominously stating, "This is just the beginning."
In the end, what could have been a footnote about a chat filter bug became a memorable moment in 2025's gaming calendar. It’s a reminder that in the digital age, a little humor and quick thinking can turn a competitor's technical oopsie into your own marketing victory. And for players, it’s a hilarious prelude to what promises to be an intense season for shooter fans.
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