Marathon's server slam went live yesterday, with Bungie looking to check if things will be ready for a March launch. Of course, one of the biggest hurdles the game has to overcome is the popularity of Ark Riders. There is bound to be some migration between the two, as both games are extraction shooters.
However, Marathon seems to have taken things a bit further than expected, banning players from typing 'Ark Riders' in chat. Many players reported that when they typed the name of the game in the chat, they were met with '*********'. It looks like it was some kind of bug and has now been fixed.
The rivalry is already hot
The same thing happened during the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. It's unclear how the bug will result in censoring the next game, and it's very strange that it happened twice. While the issue has now been fixed, Bungie has also shared a screenshot with the word 'Ark Raiders' appearing in the chat box.
Both withdrawal shooters were also compared when it came to dealing with cheats. Ark Raiders put out a notice about the consequences for players using the exploit, but it was ultimately viewed as lenient. Marathon then revealed a zero-tolerance approach, banning cheaters for life, forcing Embark's game to step things up as well.
It's going to be fun to watch these two games compete for the extraction shooter player base. Marathon will undoubtedly eat up some of Arc Raiders' player base when it launches, but it remains to be seen if it will be able to absorb it like the latter has been doing since launch. There's also the question of content drops. While Embark has been on a steady roll, Bungie has been notoriously slow to introduce new content for Destiny 2. Maybe things will get better with the marathon.
- issued
-
March 5, 2026
- ESRB
-
Juvenile/animated blood, language, violence, in-game purchases, user interaction
- Multiplayer
-
Online multiplayer, online co-op
