Rainbow Six Siege: When Hackers Play Wizard, And Ubisoft's Trying To Clean Up The Mess
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
Ubisoft's Rainbow Six Siege endured a wild hack that saw players showered with billions of credits and all premium skins, alongside ban messages quoting 'Billie Jean,' forcing an 'intentional shutdown' and leading to ongoing service issues and a temporarily closed marketplace.
Right, so you know how sometimes you try to conjure a simple spark and accidentally summon a full-blown dragon? Well, Ubisoft's Rainbow Six Siege just had its own version of a magical mishap, and it involved hackers dishing out billions in game currency, unlocking every premium skin, and apparently, giving a shout-out to Michael Jackson via ban messages. Seriously, you couldn't make this stuff up.
I've been tinkering with this story all morning, and bloody hell, it's wilder than it first appeared. What started as a chaotic free-for-all for Siege players – think Santa Claus, but with a malicious hacker's twisted sense of humour and a flair for 80s pop – has turned into a proper headache for Ubisoft, leaving the game's stability wobbling like a wizard who's had one too many potions.
Imagine logging into your favourite tactical shooter only to find you've suddenly got two billion credits and renown, and every single fancy skin you've ever coveted is just... yours. Free. No grind, no cash. For a brief, glorious moment, players were living the dream. The hackers weren't just content with showering digital wealth upon the masses though. Oh no, they had to add a dash of performance art. They allegedly took control of the ban feed, not just banning and unbanning thousands of players willy-nilly, but then banning dozens of *fake* accounts in a sequence that displayed the lyrics to Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean' on screen. That's some next-level, chaotic evil genius stuff right there, mate. A proper digital graffiti tag, if you will.
Ubisoft, bless their cotton socks, was forced to respond to this absolute digital carnival. They 'intentionally shut down' both Siege and its Marketplace on December 27th. 'Intentionally shut down' – now that's a phrase that makes a curious gamer like me raise an eyebrow. Sounds a bit like saying 'we voluntarily threw ourselves off a cliff because the ground was coming up fast.' Still, credit where it's due, they moved quickly.
Their initial messaging was pretty clear: they'd rolled back the 'erroneous transactions' (bye-bye billions, hello reality check), and crucially, nobody would be banned for spending the credits they temporarily received. That's a good move, I reckon, probably saved them a ton of player backlash. But, as often happens in these situations, fixing one thing often exposes a whole new set of gremlins in the system.
After a 'soft launch' for a limited number of players, Rainbow Six Siege was opened up to everyone again on December 29th. However, if you thought that meant a return to normal, you'd be wrong. Players reported queues just to connect, and those who *did* log in during the affected period might temporarily lose access to some owned items. Investigations and corrections, Ubisoft said, would continue for weeks. And the Marketplace? Still closed 'until further notice'. That's a huge blow for a live-service game that relies on those microtransactions.
The clever observation here is that while the initial hack was about giving away things and causing a bit of anarchic fun, the lasting impact is about *taking away* stability and trust. It's a classic case of an unexpected system shock reverberating through the entire network. At the time of writing, the game's service status page is still looking pretty grim. Connectivity, authentication, the in-game store, matchmaking – all listed as 'degraded' or showing a complete 'outage' across *every single platform*. PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, even the last-gen systems. Bloody hell, that's not just a hiccup; that's a full-blown digital migraine.
So, what does this all mean for players and for Ubisoft? On one hand, it’s a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities of online games. On the other, it’s a testament to the sheer chaos a determined, albeit bizarre, group of hackers can cause. Ubisoft is undoubtedly throwing everything they've got at this, but the ongoing struggles suggest it's far more complex than a simple flick of a switch. It's not just about restoring the data; it's about restoring confidence and ensuring the underlying systems are robust enough to prevent a repeat performance (hopefully one without 'Billie Jean' lyrics next time, unless it's a themed event, then maybe).
From a player's perspective, it's frustrating, of course. We just want to play our games without worrying if our progress or purchases are going to vanish into the digital ether. For Ubisoft, it's a massive clean-up operation, one that affects their reputation and potentially, their bottom line. It's easy to be skeptical of corporate promises when the game is still acting up, but you've got to hope they get it sorted. Because when the digital wizards go rogue, everyone else just wants their reality back to normal.
This article was repurposed from original reporting by Vikki Blake for Eurogamer.net, published on Dec. 30, 2025. You can find the original article at
Tags: Rainbow Six Siege, Ubisoft, Gaming Security, Live Service Games, Game Hack
Original article: Eurogamer