Microsoft Pulls Call of Duty: WWII from Store After Hacks

In a shocking turn of events, Microsoft has removed the PC version of Call of Duty: WWII from its store just days after adding it in June. The game was made available on Game Pass and the Microsoft Store under the assumption that it was in good working order, but multiple reports quickly surfaced of hackers exploiting a flaw to take control of gamers' PCs.

"Call of Duty: WWII on PC Microsoft Store was brought offline while we investigate reports of an issue," the official Call of Duty Updates account tweeted on July 4. However, the investigation revealed that the "issue" was not a bug or technical glitch, but rather a Remote Code Execution (RCE) exploit that allowed hackers to install malware and remotely control gamers' PCs.

What's even more embarrassing is that the version of the game Microsoft made available to PC gamers was an older, unpatched version that had been fixed years ago. Despite this, multiple reports have surfaced from gamers who were able to see their PCs get taken over in real-time as they played the game.

One gamer's Twitter post stood out: "I JUST GOT HACKED PLAYING WW2!," accompanied by a video showing the hack as it occurred. "EVERYONE DO NOT PLAY WW2 ON GAMEPASS!" The post has since been deleted, but not before it went viral and raised awareness about the issue.

Despite the incident, Microsoft's store still appears to have Call of Duty: WWII available for download. However, it's possible that the store and Xbox app offer different versions of the game based on whether you have Game Pass. It's also possible that Microsoft is simply waiting to address the issue before removing the game from the store.

"I'm not sure what to say about this since I can still see Call of Duty: WWII in the Microsoft Store, and I can install the title from there and in the Xbox app via Game Pass," a journalist noted. "It's possible that the Store and Xbox app offer different versions of the game based on whether you have Game Pass." The journalist also jokingly added, "It's also possible that I'm about to be hacked, I guess."

As for the future of Call of Duty: WWII on PC, it remains to be seen what Microsoft will do next. Will they remove the game from all platforms and offer a patch to fix the RCE exploit? Only time will tell.