Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! 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. "I think it's going to be the next big thing": As Marathon's launch looms, will Arc Raiders' success help or hurt Bungie? Marathon looks miles ahead of Arc Raiders in one key area: "Anyone found to be cheating will be permabanned" Marathon's server slam sees 143,000 concurrent Steam players so far, which isn't far behind Arc Raiders' own server slam ARC Raiders is censored in Marathon's chat in game LOL pic.twitter.com/W2XUiYfJ3SFebruary 26, 2026 ARC Raiders is censored in Marathon's chat in game LOL pic.twitter.com/W2XUiYfJ3SFebruary 26, 2026 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. Marathon looks miles ahead of Arc Raiders in one key area: "Anyone found to be cheating will be permabanned from playing Marathon forever, no second chances."