This classic Call of Duty title has returned to the Microsoft Store — it had been removed over hacking concerns

Call of Duty: WWII has officially returned to the Microsoft Store (and PC Game Pass) after being removed 41 days ago.

Sledgehammer Games' 2017 mainline entry to the Call of Duty franchise, Call of Duty: WWII, made waves in late June when it was added to Xbox and PC Game Pass. Just days later, Activision announced Call of Duty: WWII would be taken offline for Windows PC players while the development team "investigated an issue."

The issue at hand was rampant "Remote Code Execution" hacks — exploits that allow hackers to execute code on a player's PC remotely. Players affected by the exploits shared photos and videos on social media of their machines being taken over while playing Call of Duty: WII.

The exploits could possibly have allowed hackers to install malware and other malicious code that could even result in data breaches and security vulnerabilities.

Only the Windows edition of the game available on the Microsoft Store was impacted by the RCE exploits that resulted in the game's temporary delisting. Xbox consoles utilize a modified Windows Kernel, which prevented the console edition of Call of Duty: WWII from being affected by the exploit. Other editions of the game on Battle.net and Steam were seemingly unaffected, as well.

Following Call of Duty publisher Activision's acquisition by Microsoft, there has been an effort made to gradually introduce the 20-plus-year franchise's past releases into the Xbox Game Pass service. Doing so has proven to be a challenge, however, as many of the titles need to be ported to the Microsoft Store.

For several years, Call of Duty launches were limited to Activision's own Battle.net storefront on PC.

Unlike many publishers, Activision has not shut down servers for older Call of Duty titles, but support for the games typically ends one year after launch. Early this summer, Activision rolled out a major update to various older Call of Duty titles, which sparked speculation by the community that those games could also come to Xbox Game Pass in the near future.

Many of those titles, too, including Infinity Ward's 2009 hit Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Treyarch's Call of Duty: Black Ops (2012), are also plagued with hacks even on console. However, they do not seem to be as severe as the rampant RCE exploits in Call of Duty: WWII.

Efforts to port older Call of Duty titles to the Microsoft Store and add them to the Xbox Game Pass library could also cause hiccups with Activision's plans to release Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 this year from Treyarch and Raven Software.

Introducing old titles to Game Pass could potentially siphon players away from the newest release, which already has the player base skeptical due to its near-futuristic storyline.

There are concerns that omnimovement and advanced movement, like wall jumping and boost jumps, might usher in the end of the "boots on the ground" era that Call of Duty has been committed to since Modern Warfare (2019).

Players have also railed against the increasingly absurd operator skins, targeting Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's abundance of cel-shaded and crossover bundles featuring the likes of Beavis and Butthead and American Dad characters. The community's disdain ultimately led to Treyarch and Raven Software deciding to pull support for Carry Forward in Black Ops 7.

The community's opinion of Black Ops 7 seems to be a mixed bag at the moment, but Call of Duty: Black Ops 7's multiplayer has yet to be fully revealed. The sentiment of the community could change drastically following the COD NEXT showcase on September 30.

In the meantime, those who are tired of getting shot down by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 can now safely revisit Call of Duty: WWII on PC once again.