Speculation recently mounted among players that Bungie was attempting to suppress discussions regarding Embark Studios’ upcoming rival title.
During a recent playtest for Marathon, participants discovered that they were unable to mention Arc Raiders—another high-profile extraction shooter—within the game’s text chat.
Rumors of this targeted censorship quickly went viral across social media platforms, making Bungie the subject of widespread ridicule and online banter.
The Marathon development team was quick to address the controversy, posting a screenshot of the chat showing the message: “Arc Raiders is an awesome game,” signaling that the filtering issue had been promptly rectified.
Marathon is currently scheduled for release on March 5, 2026. Early feedback from the playtest has been surprisingly positive, leading some to believe the project will successfully find its niche rather than becoming another short-lived service game failure.