Arc Raiders Took My Whole Month — And Honestly, I Needed That Blackout

By: Knux456 | December 2nd, 2025 | 9:53pm EST

Let me be real with you for a second.

I didn’t plan on disappearing into Arc Raiders. I didn’t block out no time, didn’t schedule no sessions, didn’t tell nobody, “Yo, I’ll be gone for a minute.”

No, This game showed up, grabbed me by the collar, and said,

“Hey OG… you coming home.”

And that’s exactly what it felt like — coming home.

Not to childhood.

Not to nostalgia.

But to that part of me I keep tucked away most of the year…

the part that loves being locked in, grinding, building, mastering, losing track of hours because the mission got serious.

Arc Raiders became my blackout month — and the wild thing is, it wasn’t even about the game.

It was about me.

I realized something while I was knee-deep in raids, loadouts, revives, and rebuilds:

Gaming is the ONLY place where I don’t have to be CEO Damien.

I don’t have to be Dad Damien.

I don’t have to be Branch Brand, or Knux456, or the author, or the strategist, or the man everybody pulls on for answers.

Inside that world?

I’m just the player.

That felt good in a way I didn’t even know I needed.

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THE BLACKOUT WASN’T ACCIDENTAL — IT WAS A RESET

People think gaming is “wasting time.”

Sometimes it’s the only time you’re actually breathing.

During this Arc Raiders blackout month:

• I wasn’t overthinking.

• I wasn’t juggling ten brand projects.

• I wasn’t carrying everybody’s emotional weight.

• I wasn’t replaying old trauma conversations in my head.

• I wasn’t anticipating the next issue, the next call, the next task.

I was just there.

In the moment.

Focused.

Dialed.

Alive in a way that doesn’t require productivity points or spiritual analysis.

Just raw enjoyment.

That’s rare for me.

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THE REASON I LOCKED IN SO HARD?

Because Arc Raiders feels like the type of world I used to escape into when life got loud.

Remember being young and finally finding that one safe spot — that “I’m good here” place?

Where it’s just you, the controller, and whatever universe you teleported to for the night?

As adults… we don’t get those moments anymore.

Life took that from a lot of us.

So when a game comes along that hits that same nerve?

That same “this is where my mind can chill without shutting down?”

You honor it.

You sit in it.

You let it heal you a little.

Even if you don’t say that out loud.

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ARC RAIDERS FED MY COMPETITIVE SIDE WITHOUT DRAINING MY REAL LIFE ENERGY

It hit the perfect balance:

• Tension but not stress

• Challenge but not chaos

• Teamwork but not emotional labor

• Focus but not mental overload

It scratched the itch without reopening old wounds.

It gave me strategy without giving me problems.

It gave me adrenaline without giving me anxiety.

That’s why it turned into a blackout month.

My mind needed a controlled battlefield — not the one I walk through in real life.

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Here’s the real truth… I didn’t get locked into Arc Raiders because it was entertaining.

I got locked in because it gave me my space back.

A pocket of time where nobody needs me.

Nobody’s calling my name.

Nobody’s misjudging me.

Nobody’s pulling emotional receipts from years ago.

Just me.

The game.

The mission.

The loadout.

The squad.

The silence.

And for the first time in a minute?

I felt like myself.

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I BLACKED OUT — BUT I CAME BACK SHARPER

A lot of men don’t say this, but I will:

Sometimes the only way to come back strong is to go dark for a while.

Not depressed.

Not disconnected.

Not running.

Just… recalibrating in a world where you finally get to breathe.

Arc Raiders gave me a month of that.

And I’m not embarrassed about it.

I’m grateful for it.

It reminded me of my gamer roots, my calm center, and that secret place in my mind where I’ve always recharged — joystick in hand, headset on, world muted.

The OG sanctuary.

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BLACKOUT MONTH IS OVER — BUT THE LESSON STAYS

I learned something about myself:

Gaming isn’t my escape.

It’s my maintenance.

My reset button.

My recharge station.

My safe territory where the noise can’t reach me.

And every man — especially a man building something — needs that place.

Mine just happens to have loot crates, respawns, and extraction zones.

⸻