The Warzone 2 whack-a-mole begins as infinite XP bug discovered and patched within hours

warzone 2.0 — (Image credit: Activision Blizzard)

Players have discovered a Call of Duty: Warzone 2 glitch that allows you to level a gun from baseline to maximum level in a single match: and just as quickly, developer Raven Software swung into action and squished it. It's all thanks to the exponential XP reward that can come from repeating one of the in-game contracts, Safecracker, which is a straightforward mission that nearly doubles the XP award each time one is completed.

Amusingly enough, this is a recurring Call of Duty bug: you could almost call it a launch bug. I recall one in particular that involved spamming Supply Run missions, but essentially every time it's been the same thing, a particular mission that exponentially increased the XP reward the more you played it.

This one involves finding a safecracker contract on the minimap, completing it, then rinse and repeat. It's as simple as that: Youtuber IceManIsaac discovered the trick and, as can be seen in his video, the amount awarded each time goes through the roof, and by the fifth or sixth go-around you should be earning enough that your equipped weapon gets maxed-out.

In addition to direct XP, these missions also award vast amounts of cash when you're cracking through (b'dum tsh) like this. You can also use the cash to purchase armour plates from buy stations: armour plates are the cheapest item in the shop, but the key here is that for some reason you get weapon XP for using the shop.

Several hours ago Raven Software announced that 'Most Wanted' contracts have been temporarily disabled in-game, and this seems to have nixed the issue for now. Going on past experience, another will pop up soon enough. This particular type of exploit has cropped up in OG Warzone and COD multiplayer modes before, without exception has been quickly patched, and then another appears. For developers Infinity Ward and Raven Software, it must feel a bit like playing whack-a-mole with influencers.

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."