'We're still on track to release *** *******': Arc Raiders pokes fun at EA and Activision censorship while reminding players that they're still coming for the end of the month

Word has spread about Arc Raiders' censorship across EA and Activision. It may sound weird, but during the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 beta, players who typed 'Arc Raiders' in chat were met with a starred version as if they had just uttered the worst phrase known to man.

I decided to check this out for myself and, mid Black Ops 7 match, typed in 'Arc Raiders' only for the infamous '*** ********' to pop up on screen. I then proceeded to get flamed by my team for taking the time to type this out, only to then immediately get shot in the back of the head, but I thought it was worthwhile research.

Activision has since said that it's nothing personal, pointing to it being the result of a text filter error. But regardless of the intention, Arc Raiders developer Embark Studios has managed to see the funny side of it all.

"We're still on track to release *** ******* on October 30th," Arc Raiders says in a social media post, alongside a sparkly promo image.

I wouldn't say that Arc Raiders is direct competition for Call of Duty; that role goes to Battlefield 6, but it's still a multiplayer extraction shooter, so it'll likely attract a similar crowd. Some players seem to think that this is enough to warrant speculation of EA and Activision actively sabotaging the game via censorship of its name.

"ARC Raiders is getting censored in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7's in-game chat," an X account says. "First EA, and now Activision. Do these corporate giants really feel that insecure?" It may seem weird, but I'm not overly convinced that this is the reason why, if anything, censoring the name has given Arc Raiders more airtime, not less.

Arc Raiders is currently sitting at fifth on Steam's top wishlisted games, so there's clearly a lot of hype surrounding this upcoming extraction shooter, and I, for one, can't wait to check it out for myself.

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