Days after players reported getting hacked while playing, this Call of Duty game goes offline.
Recently, Call of Duty: WW2 arrived on Xbox Game Pass. Many fans of the franchise were initially thrilled to see the game arrive on the subscription service, but things quickly went downhill. Soon after the game's Xbox Game Pass release, PC gamers began to report a pretty serious issue with the PC version of the game. This issue isn't exactly new for Call of Duty games, but the influx of new players looks to have prompted an unusual response from the developers.
Call of Duty fans have been warning gamers against playing older titles in the series for years. Because these older titles no longer receive ongoing support, they become a playground for hackers to take advantage of exploits. This issue resurfaced as Call of Duty: WW2 released on Xbox Game Pass, bringing an influx of new players to the retro title. Soon, reports began spreading of PC hackers using an exploit in the game to fully take control of players' PCs. Obviously, this is an incredibly concerning issue with the game, and it's led to action on the part of Activision.
Late in the day on July 4th, the official @CODUpdates account shared the message above. Call of Duty: WW2 has been taken offline on the Microsoft Store, with no return date yet in sight. The statement refers only to "reports of an issue," but it's very likely a response to players warning each other against playing the game on PC due to hacking concerns.
Gamers Call Out Activision's Handling of Hacking Issue
Call of Duty fans have been frustrated with Activision's lack of response to the hacking issues in older CoD games for years. But while you might think that taking WW2 offline would appease fans, most gamers are unimpressed by the understatement being used here. Calling these PC hacking incidents "an issue" feels, for many, like underplaying the severity of what's going on.
For the most part, hackers don't appear to be stealing sensitive info. Instead, they're mostly using the exploit to troll gamers with pop-ups, shutting down PCs, and more. However, the RCE exploit letting hackers take control of an individual's PC can cause much more serious security concerns. So, it's a good thing that the game has been taken offline. But some players feel Activision should've been more transparent about what was going on in the first place.
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The replies are full of gamers calling out the use of "an issue" to describe what's going on. And as many players point out, Call of Duty: WW2 is far from the only game with serious security concerns like these. While it's a good step to pull the game, this is far from the only CoD game with exploits that make it unsafe to play.
Clearly, gamers would like to see a bit more beyond just taking one game offline. Hopefully, Activision will find a fix to patch the exploit and let gamers enjoy Call of Duty: WW2 on PC again soon. But to many gamers, this is really just the first step towards making the CoD library safely playable for fans.
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