Activision Took Down Call Of Duty Game After Pc Players Hacked, Says Source

Games elephantine Activision took down Call of Duty: WWII owed to hackers exploiting a flaw successful a circumstantial PC type of nan game, which led to respective players getting their computers hacked, TechCrunch has learned. 

Last week, Activision announced that it brought offline nan Microsoft Store type of Call of Duty: WWII, a 2017 first-person shooter, arsenic nan institution was investigating “reports of an issue,” without specifying what nan rumor was. The institution had conscionable launched that type of nan game, besides disposable connected Game Pass, a subscription work that provides entree to respective games for a monthly fee. 

A personification pinch knowledge of Activision’s consequence told TechCrunch that nan institution took nan crippled offline because of nan hacks and while it useful to spot nan issue. TechCrunch is not naming nan person, arsenic they are not authorized to speak to nan press.

Several video crippled news outlets reported connected nan communicative and noted that several players complained connected social media that they had been hacked while playing nan game. Until now, location had not been a confirmed nexus betwixt nan 2 events.

“The crippled is not safe to play connected PC correct now, there’s an RCE exploit,” a subordinate wrote connected Reddit past week, referring to a type of bug known arsenic remote codification execution, which allows hackers nan expertise to works malware tin of fundamentally taking power of a victim’s device. 

The crippled for nan Microsoft Store and Game Pass remains down astatine nan clip of publication, per Activision’s position page.

Activision did not respond to aggregate requests for comment. 

The crippled patient took down only nan Microsoft Store and Game Pass type of Call of Duty: WWII because they were different versions of nan crippled than listed connected Steam and contained an aged flaw that had been patched connected different versions of nan game, according to 2 sources pinch knowledge of nan situation.

In nan past mates of years, Activision has had to woody pinch respective hacking incidents. In November 2024, a hacker recovered a flaw successful Call of Duty’s anti-cheat system that allowed them to prohibition thousands of morganatic gamers. Earlier successful nan year, nan institution investigated a hacking run targeting players pinch infostealer malware, a type of malicious package designed to bargain a victim’s passwords. In 2023, hackers utilized a self-spreading malware — a machine worm — to hack Call of Duty: Modern Warfare players, thanks to an unpatched years-old bug successful nan game. 

In caller times, immoderate video crippled companies person beefed up their cybersecurity teams, arsenic good arsenic their anti-cheat teams. Activision, however, has gone done several rounds of layoffs successful nan past fewer years, immoderate of which person straight affected its cybersecurity teams.