The developer of ARC Raiders, Embark Studios, has responded to the censorship of their game's title in the in-game chat of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. Read on to learn how Embark Studios humorously addressed the situation and what Activision had to say about it.
ARC Raiders Devs See the Funny Side of CoD: Black Ops 7 Chat Censorship
Release Date Remains Unchanged
Embark Studios, the developer behind ARC Raiders, has reacted to their game's title being blocked in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7's chat. In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on October 7, the studio offered a clever take on the censorship issue.
The tweet stated, "We're still on track to release *** ******* on October 30th!" with the asterisks seemingly replacing the words "ARC Raiders." This mirrors how filtered terms appear within the CoD: Black Ops 7 chat system.
A similar incident occurred in the EA App Chat on August 5, 2025, where fans on the ARC Raiders subreddit noted that typing the game's title was blocked. EA resolved the problem the next day but did not issue a formal statement.
It's no secret that ARC Raiders is an upcoming competitor to both Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and Battlefield 6, with all three shooters launching around the same time. Many fans quickly speculated that censoring a rival's name in chat was to be expected.
Interestingly, neither Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 nor the EA App Chat filters the other's title, nor does it block other popular shooters like Fortnite or Escape From Tarkov. While some believe the censorship was deliberate, Embark Studios took it in stride, keeping their focus on ARC Raiders' imminent launch.
Activision Calls It Unintentional
A few hours after the story gained traction online, Activision stepped in to clear up the confusion. Responding to an inquiry from Insider Gaming, Activision clarified that the censorship was not intentional.
They explained that a text filter error occurred due to the specific combination of the words "Arc" and "Raiders." Activision stated, "Our text-based moderation system has 'Arc' flagged as an alternate spelling of an inappropriate term. When paired with 'Raiders,' the system caught the phrase. We've since adjusted those filters."
This is likely the same reason ARC Raiders was blocked in the EA App Chat. Regardless, fans of the shooter genre have an exciting few weeks ahead, with major releases like ARC Raiders, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and Battlefield 6 all launching soon.
ARC Raiders launches on October 30, 2025, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. For the latest updates on the game, check out our related article below.
