Ubisoft Takes Rainbow Six Siege Offline After Holiday Hack

Ubisoft has taken its popular tactical shooter, Rainbow Six Siege, offline in response to a significant security breach that occurred during the holiday season. The decision to remove the game from online access was made to investigate the incident, which began on December 27, 2023. Days later, the game’s Service Status page continues to report ongoing issues related to connectivity, authentication, in-game store operations, and matchmaking.

The incident involved a hacker group that reportedly manipulated the game’s systems, banning and unbanning thousands of player accounts. In a surprising twist, the hackers issued two billion credits and renown to each player, along with granting access to all available premium skins. This prompted Ubisoft to take the unusual step of “intentionally” shutting down the game and its online store to address the situation.

In an effort to reassure players, Ubisoft announced that no users would face penalties for spending the erroneously allocated funds. The development team has since rolled back all transactions that took place during the hack. Following a short investigation period, a “soft” invite-only re-launch of the game took place on December 29, 2023.

Ubisoft has kept the community informed, expressing gratitude to players for their patience as they work to resolve the ongoing issues. Acknowledging the complexities of the situation, the team stated it is committed to investigating the root cause of the problems and ensuring a stable gaming environment for all players.

While the game was brought back online, Ubisoft has been closely monitoring its performance. The company confirmed that an official R6 ShieldGuard ban wave did take place, but clarified that it is unrelated to the recent hacking incident. As of now, no further public details regarding the breach have been disclosed.

As gamers await clarity on the situation, Ubisoft’s actions demonstrate its commitment to maintaining the integrity of Rainbow Six Siege and protecting its community from future threats.