Ubisoft shuts down Rainbow Six Siege servers as hackers distribute in-game currency worth Rs 110 Crore

In a significant security incident, Ubisoft has shut down the servers for its renowned tactical shooter, Rainbow Six Siege, due to a major breach. The attack, which emerged over the weekend, led to widespread disruption, affecting millions of players globally, including a large segment in India. The chaos began on Saturday when numerous players reported unusual activities on their accounts. Hackers allegedly gained access to the game’s backend systems, distributing around 2 billion R6 Credits—an in-game currency typically acquired through real money purchases—to every logged-in user. This staggering distribution is estimated to be worth over $13 million, or approximately Rs 110 Crore. Beyond financial manipulation, the hackers seized control of the game’s moderation tools, issuing fake bans, unbanning previously restricted accounts, and unlocking rare cosmetic items typically reserved for developers. In a bold move, they even utilized the in-game ban ticker to send custom messages, mocking the developers. In response to this unprecedented breach, Ubisoft took the drastic measure of taking all servers offline across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms. The in-game marketplace was also deactivated to prevent further exploitation of the game's economy. The Rainbow Six Siege team announced on social media that they are conducting a "rollback" to revert accounts to their status prior to the breach. Ubisoft has reassured players that they will not face penalties for using the credits or items acquired during the hack. However, any progress or transactions made after 11:00 AM UTC (4:30 PM IST) on December 27 will be reversed. While efforts are underway to bring the servers back online, the company has cautioned that full restoration may take time due to thorough quality control processes. This incident serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities present within major live-service games. Ubisoft has yet to disclose the specifics of how the breach occurred, although security experts are pointing to a possible weakness in their database systems.