Whoops, Call of Duty: Warzone didn't mean to put that crossbow in the game

Yesterday, Activision added a new crossbow to Call Of Duty: Warzone and Black Ops – Cold War. Hours later, the publisher took it away. But while you could've blinked and missed it, Activision has promised to refund players who were pouring hours into unlocking the new weapon.

As reported by Eurogamer, the R1 Shadowhunter appeared unannounced in Warzone's shop yesterday. While unusable in Warzone itself, the bow could be used in regular Black Ops multiplayer and Zombies after completing a challenge that required you to get three one-shot, one-kill medals in 15 matches with zero attachments.

Activision would, of course, remove the crossbow a few hours later—but not before plenty of folks had started pouring hours into unlocking, and then up-leveling, the Shadowhunter.

If you bought the crossbow from Warzone's real-money store, you should be getting a refund. The problem, however, lies with folks who had attempted to unlock the weapon for free. The bow's removal also resets all progress for its linked challenge. A Treyarch community manager has confirmed that when the Shadowhunter comes back, everyone will be forced to start over.

I'm not sure how much time you'll want to spend with the Shadowhunter once it's finally out. It's a one-hit kill in Cold War (nice), but in Warzone the bolts drop so fast at long-range that lining up a decent shot sounds like a real chore. Not to mention the long reload time—I can brush off a quick death in Cold War, but losing a Battle Royale round because I missed a single bolt is too much pressure.

There's no word on when the Shadowhunter will officially release, and there's always a slim hope that Activision could change its mind in letting players keep their premature crossbows.