Activision censored 'Arc Raiders' from the Call of Duty Black Ops 7 Beta chat

Gamers that jumped into the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Early Access beta noticed that the chat was censoring the phrase 'Arc Raiders.'

Activision censored 'Arc Raiders' from the Call of Duty Black Ops 7 Beta chat
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TL;DR: Call of Duty: Black Ops 7's multiplayer beta revealed a chat filter error censoring the phrase "Arc Raiders," a rival upcoming multiplayer shooter releasing October 30. Activision confirmed the issue will be fixed, highlighting unusual censorship of competitor game titles amid major FPS launches from Activision and EA.

Alongside Battlefield 6, another big-budget multiplayer shooter with a AAA cinematic campaign set to release soon is the latest installment in the annual Call of Duty franchise from Activision and Xbox. With a Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 multiplayer beta kicking off (check out our performance deep dive from the Early Access beta here), a Redditor noticed something a little strange with how the game's chat censorship was behaving.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, image credit: Activision.
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Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, image credit: Activision.

Usually, the chat censors words to keep the flow of in-game chatter and communication free from obscene language. However, Redditor 'RedRoses711' posted a video showcasing how the game censored the phrase 'Arc Raiders', a highly anticipated multiplayer extraction shooter set for release on October 30. Apparently, the game would only censor the title when 'Arc' and 'Raiders' were combined, but not when the individual words were used.

Activision, which supplied a statement to PC Gamer, said that "Arc Raiders" being blocked from chat was the result of a "text filter error" and that it would be fixed soon. Now, this might be the case, but it is strange that the title of another highly anticipated competitive shooter, which is also due out soon, was accidentally getting blocked due to an error.

Arc Raiders, image credit: Embark Studios.
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Arc Raiders, image credit: Embark Studios.

Interestingly, this isn't the first time Arc Raiders has been blocked by a chat filter, with the chat functionality in the EA App also blocking the phrase and title "Arc Raiders" before it was spotted and then subsequently "fixed" by EA. Arc Raiders is the next game from The Finals developer Embark Studios, a talented team comprised of veteran developers who helped shape the technology and gameplay behind the Battlefield series. Perhaps EA and Activision didn't want their communities to discuss other shooters as they both prepare to launch their latest entries in two of the biggest multiplayer FPS franchises of all time.

Either way, this is free publicity for Arc Raiders, which is set for release on October 30. Check out the latest trailer for the game below.