We got a nice little dose of the Barbara Streisand effect during the first day of the Marathon server slam. As an extraction FPS, Marathon faces stiff competition from the current hotness, Arc Raiders, and players were quick to discover Embark's hit was censored in Marathon's chat, a choice that was soon walked back.
Soon after the server slam started, Tyler 'Ninja' Blevins and his stream-mates realized you can't type "Arc Raiders" into chat. In a clip posted by Jake Lucky, you can see Blevins and the others try several other games, like Apex Legends, Counter-Strike, and Fortnite, and gradually realize it's just Arc Raiders.
The cover-up isn't subtle either; the letters are replaced by hashtags, making it quite clear what's been said, at least in this context. Blevins is in shock, while one of his pals asks if it's ragebait.
ARC Raiders is censored in Marathon's chat in game LOL pic.twitter.com/W2XUiYfJ3SFebruary 26, 2026
With discovery from such a huge streamer, this began circulating quickly, and within minutes, devs at Bungie took Embark's sci-fi third-person shooter off the blacklist. The Marathon Development Team official Twitter account replied to the clip of Blevins, confirming the change.
"Arc Raiders is awesome, 2 cakes," says the in-game chat from Bungie. In response, the Arc Raiders Twitter account had something of its own to share: "No matter if you're a Runner or a Raider, loot is loot. We'll save you a seat in the shuttle."
Whether the blacklisting of Arc Raiders was a successful publicity stunt or a legitimate bit of brand warfare, the incident got people talking and trying out Marathon's messaging service. This is what public tests are all about, and when Bungie's facing competition from another Sony property, anything that grabs attention is good.
