Gearbox issued a statement warning that a few users have "violated the Xbox Live Code of Conduct by using an external application to maliciously disrupt the experience and sabotage characters of legitimate Borderlands 2 players on Xbox 360."
According to a report on GamesRadar, "the attack is being dubbed the 'Graveyard Virus' because it means when a character dies in the game, they never come back. Ever." The report says that the virus works by switching the game's difficulty setting to Hardcore mode, which only gives the gamer one life.
So if gamers die in 'Fight for your Life' mode, they are brought immediately back to the title screen with the character being gone forever. According to the report, The virus is spread through duplicated and shared items.
Here is what Gearbox wrote on its forum:
"Fortunately it's easy to avoid this scenario. After extensive internal testing, an update to prevent this disruption has been submitted to Microsoft and will be released as soon as possible. Until then, concerned Xbox 360 players of Borderlands 2 should consider playing online with trusted individuals in non-public sessions. This does not affect players on PC or PlayStation 3.
We also advise that before ceasing play, users always select "Save and Quit" from within the pause menu while their character is alive. If after the death of their character players find themselves at the main menu of Borderlands 2 instead of respawning in-game, be sure to immediately select "Continue" to resume playing as that character.
We ask that players report any suspicious behavior in Borderlands 2 to spotted@gearboxsoftware.com and provide as much details and documentation of their disrupted experience as possible to assist us in our investigation."
Players of the PC version of Borderlands 2 are also claiming on unofficial forums that the virus affects them, according to the GamesRadar report. Gearbox did not mention PC players in its statment. There is no news on if the virus exist on the PlayStation 3 version of the game. A patch is already in the approval stage and should be issued soon. Moderators on the Borderland 2 forums advise playing online matches with players that you know.
Have you been affected by the virus? Are you PC player that has been affected by the virus? watch the game's trailer and comment below...