Borderlands 2 Xbox 360 exploit punishes innocent bystanders

Borderlands 2 fans might want to stay off Xbox Live for a while; there's a very nasty exploit going around which deletes save files.

The issue arises when encountering players using an exploit which unlocks an incomplete hardcore mode not found in the finished retail offering; the player using the hack suffers no consequences, but those meeting them in game may find their save files deleted if they die.

As Gearbox notes on its forum, you can avoid the problem altogether by closing your game off to strangers, but a fix has been submitted to Microsoft for certification and is expected soon.

In the meantime, if you find yourself playing with a suspicious stranger, select save and quit from the menu - don't just switch off - and if you die, immediately select continue from the title menu.

Additionally, if you spot anyone exhibiting sneaky behaviour of any kind, send as much details as possible to spotted@gearboxsoftware.com so Gearbox can pursue the matter.

The PC and PlayStation 3 versions are not affected.

Thanks, Eurogamer.