For days, Rainbow Six Siege has been under… Well, siege. It’s being targeted by malicious hackers that are taking control of the in-game ‘ban feed’ and replacing the content with whatever imagery they so desire.
Be warned, there may be some sensitive terminology ahead.
It started off as something of a joke – a meme, even. As players reached important moments in the match, their screen would be obscured by a picture of a cartoon chicken. However, it quickly spiralled, and before long, hackers were injecting pornographic images and gore pictures, including shots of mutilated corpses, effectively jump-scaring and quite literally traumatising players.
And it was even happening to players streaming the game.
All This And A New Season, Too.
Operation Solar Raid dropped in Rainbow Six Siege on the 6th of December, bringing with it a host of updates, changes, and amendments to the existing platform. It introduced a new Operator, a fresh map, crossplay and cross-progression mechanics, Ranked 2.0, and umpteen balances and fixes.
It also seems to have opened the door to some of the most malicious, harmful hacking we’ve ever seen in an online game. Typically, online hacking and cheating are reserved to unlock tools, wallhacks, aimbots, and ‘ESP’. In Rainbow Six Siege, the latest hacks expose players to grotesque, violent imagery and pornographic shots.
On Twitter, user @AthienoR6 captured live on stream an example of this hacking, albeit a more mundane example. At a pivotal moment in his game, a cartoon chicken pops up in the middle of his screen, obscuring his vision:
That’s the only example we can actively share because, for the most part, the images flashing up on players’ screens are lewd at the bare minimum.
By way of a response to this outbreak, Ubisoft has temporarily shut down the ban feed function while working on a fix, but this then removes the visible representation of action being taken against players reported for toxicity and cheating.
It’s better than seeing a literal corpse floating across your screen, though.
If you want to check out more Ubisoft news on Insider Gaming, check out our coverage of the leak of the entire beta for Assassin’s Creed Codename: Jade.
