The gaming community has been hit by a wave of concern due to Modern Warfare 2 malware attacks. Servers for the classic game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009), hosted on Steam, have been taken down due to this worm-like malware. This malware, reported on the Steam forums on June 26, has the ability to spread merely through the act of joining a match, leading to the server shutdown a month later.

The virus propagated as players unknowingly joined “hacked lobbies” within the MW2 servers. As of July 25, 2023, the game’s servers have been closed while developers investigate the issue. While the developers have not explicitly mentioned the virus, it is highly likely that the server shutdown is a direct response to the malware spreading from player to player.

Source: Call of Duty

Who still plays MW2?

This issue primarily affects a small number of players who still use the original MW2 servers. Approximately 600 concurrent players still engage in matches on maps like Showdown. This makes MW2 the most successful COD game. However, this number is expected to decline further due to the server shutdown. Despite boasting a peak of 22,614 concurrent players 14 years ago, MW2 (2009) has not seen a concurrent spike over 1,500 for over three years, according to stats site SteamDB.

Additional research indicates that the malware situation should not be taken lightly. It has the potential to infect hundreds of PCs due to its ability to spread simply by joining a server. Considering that around 600 players are logging onto MW2 daily, there could be thousands of players infected with the malware.

Players have identified the Modern Warfare 2 malware attacks under the name “dsound.dll”, hidden within the game files. Earlier this year, Activision had clamped down on modding servers like X Labs through cease and desist letters. X Labs servers had provided gamers with the opportunity to play older CoD titles with robust anti-cheat and malware protection. However, just a few months after their shutdown, players are now being infected with malware by joining the game’s official servers. Without a fix or a large-scale alternative, this could potentially signal the final downfall of MW2.