Over 500,000 Activision accounts hacked, Call of Duty players’ data, password at risk

A huge data breach at Activision has given hackers access to usernames, passwords of over 500,000 players. All Call of Duty players should change their Activision passwords immediately.

Activision accounts are used by gamers for various Call of Duty (CoD) titles, including Call of Duty Warzone, Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Call of Duty Mobile. These accounts are also used for other Activision games, but CoD is the most popular among them all. (Activision)

A massive data breach at Activision has let hackers access usernames and passwords of over hundreds of thousands of its customer accounts. Reported by Dexerto, more than 500,000 Activision accounts have been hacked and the user credentials have been publicly leaked for Call of Duty players and others. Hackers are now using these details to log in and change passwords thus preventing the actual users from being able to access or recover their accounts.

According to TechRadar, this data breach was first reported by a Twitter user who goes by the handle - oRemmy. This was then confirmed by multiple content creators including Prototype Warehouse, Okami and TheGamingRevolution.

Okami confirmed the breach in a tweet and asked users to change the passwords on their Activision account.

“Yeah, it's legit guys. Change your Activision account passwords and add 2FA immediately. Apparently over 500k accounts have been breached already and it's still ongoing,” Okami tweeted.

Yeah, it's legit guys. Change your Activision account passwords and add 2FA immediately.

Apparently over 500k accounts have been breached already and it's still ongoing. @Activision @ATVIAssist https://t.co/mjKecaty1m

— Okami (@Okami13_) September 21, 2020

The hackers are reportedly “generating 1,000 accounts every 10 minutes,” according to TheGamingRevolution.

Activision accounts are apparently being leaked so change your password, although that might not even help because they're apparently generating 1,000 accounts every 10 minutes.

— TheGamingRevolution (@TheGamingRevo3) September 20, 2020

Activision accounts are used by gamers for various Call of Duty (CoD) titles, including Call of Duty Warzone, Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Call of Duty Mobile. These accounts are also used for other Activision games, but CoD is the most popular among them all. 

The franchise is already very popular and its popularity soared, particularly that of Call of Duty Mobile, after PUBG Mobile was banned in India. The company is also planning to bring in the mobile version of Call of Duty Warzone which is its only Battle Royale mode.

Now, while players and content creators have corroborated that there indeed has been a breach, Activision has denied it.

The company told Forbes in a statement that accounts have not been compromised and reports suggesting otherwise are inaccurate. Activision added they recommend that players take precautions to protect their accounts and suggested that their tips and step-by-step instructions on how to keep one's account safe be followed. You can find the instructions here.

If you think you may be at risk, please check out these helpful step-by-step tips to safeguard your account https://t.co/2XHHpcVS4i. pic.twitter.com/rTnCMaWBAX

— Activision Support (@ATVIAssist) September 22, 2020

However, the only way to keep your Activision account safe is by changing your password. The company does not offer two-factor authentication to secure it. Additionally, as TechRadar and Dexerto suggest, CoD players should unlink their Battlenet, PSN, Xbox Live and any other accounts associated with their Activision account as well as remove any payment details saved.