2017’s Call of Duty: WW2 was recently thrust back into the spotlight thanks to the game’s newly added presence on the popular Xbox Game Pass service. The title now stands as only the fourth mainline Call of Duty title to make its way to the subscription service, with more entries being expected to make their way over to Game Pass over the coming months. While not the most popular Call of Duty entry, many returning and brand-new fans predictably flocked to check out the title.
However, this renewed burst of popularity for Call of Duty: WW2 has quickly been overshadowed by controversy, with some serious issues being reported with the PC Game Pass version of the title. Through a mix of things like rampant cheating and glaring security issues, many are labeling the PC Game Pass version of WW2 as dangerous even to play, putting a significant dampener on what otherwise should have been a moment of celebration.
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Call of Duty: WW2 On PC Game Pass is in Desperate Need of Some Changes
Call of Duty: WW2 was added to Xbox Game Pass on June 30, becoming available across all tiers of the service as well as the popular PC Game Pass. The addition of CoD games to Game Pass appears to be one of the main ways Microsoft is getting value out of its record-breaking acquisition of Activision, although WW2 is currently doing more harm than good for the franchise in its current state.
Console versions of Call of Duty: WW2 appear to be working relatively as intended, but PC players were quick to note serious issues in the way of cheating and potential malware. Many PC players have reported falling victim to remote code executions while playing WW2 on PC Game Pass, allowing hackers to hijack computers, open unsavory browser windows, and install malware onto players’ desktops.
This issue seems to be confined entirely to Call of Duty: WW2‘s multiplayer gameplay, meaning PC players can still freely engage with the game’s campaign without fear. Even away from these more serious issues, standard PC matchmaking for WW2 is reportedly plagued with cheating players. If anything, this showcases the wider issues that Microsoft is going to face in terms of reviving older Call of Duty multiplayer modes.
Rumors suggest that beloved past titles like World at War and 2009’s MW2 might soon make their way to Game Pass, where cheater-filled lobbies may be even more of an issue.
The Hacking and Cheating Issues Will Likely Go Beyond Call of Duty: WW2
Anti-cheat remains a major issue for Call of Duty to this day, and the more primitive anti-cheat measures of titles like WW2 are ripe for exploitation. These issues have only been exacerbated by Microsoft massively expanding the game’s playerbase directly through Game Pass, with players hoping for an official statement and fix for these issues as soon as possible. It may be quite a difficult task for such an old game to support this number of players and potential bad actors, regardless of any Microsoft intervention, only adding to the controversy currently swirling around WW2.
The concept of Xbox being able to revive older Call of Duty titles has always been floated as one of the main benefits of Xbox Game Pass going forward, though some of the most iconic past titles have been deeply broken for some time now.
With CoD studios having to maintain the massive demands of annual releases alongside this added pressure of maintaining the online integrity of older entries, Microsoft may have to re-evaluate CoD‘s relationship with Game Pass going forward. While console players can still dive into Call of Duty: WW2 without worry, the potential severity of the issues faced by some PC players makes the controversy surrounding the game loud and very understandable.