Ubisoft shuts down Rainbow Six Siege servers after a massive hack that gave away billions in credits and caused chaotic bans! Players were left without access to the tactical shooter right in the middle of the holidays, after an attack that revealed serious security flaws at Ubisoft.

Hacking Chaos: Infinite Credits and Random Bans

Imagine logging into Rainbow Six Siege and finding billions of R6 credits in your account, enough to buy ultra-rare skins like the R4C Glacier, or even hundreds of Alpha bundles. That's what happened on the morning of Saturday, December 27, when cybercriminals exploited a vulnerability in the servers, injecting in-game currency into thousands of users and manipulating the ban system.

Some previously banned players were suddenly unbanned, while others received unfair punishments for no apparent reason. The hack was no minor glitch, as it was made possible by the hackers accessing the main database, altering inventories, Renown coins, and even buying exclusive cosmetics worth hundreds of real dollars.

Ubisoft reacted quickly on Xbox, confirming the “incident” at 9:10 AM ET and shutting down servers on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox to prevent further damage. The game's status page displayed an “unplanned outage” across all platforms, leaving the community in shock for over 24 hours.

Cybersecurity experts like William Fieldhouse of Aardwolf Security point out that this reveals deep vulnerabilities in the API endpoints, allowing for complete administrative control without proper authentication.

Ubisoft's Response: Rollback and Promises of No Bans

The company didn't remain idle. Within hours, they clarified that no one would be banned for spending the stolen credits, a move to appease players tempted by the “Christmas gift.” For Sunday the 28th, they announced a massive rollback of transactions starting at 6 AM ET on Saturday, erasing fraudulent purchases and restoring accounts to their original state.“

This isn't the first time Siege has suffered cyberattacks; in 2023, thieves stole 900 GB of internal data, but didn't affect player accounts. Now, sources like Vx-Underground reveal that one group exploited a service to ban/modify inventories, while another potentially accessed the source code of several Ubisoft games. The community on Reddit and X erupted with memes and complaints, demanding more transparency: “Why didn't they detect this sooner?”

Impact on Players and Lessons for the Gaming Industry

Thousands of fans were left stranded without their daily dose of Siege, a title with millions of active players that generates millions in microtransactions annually. The marketplace also crashed, paralyzing sales of skins and bundles. Players in Latin America, Europe, and the US reported the same thing: zero connection, crazy balances, and fear of losing progress. For those who grind ranked, this hurts twice as much during the competitive season.

The hack exposes real risks to the security of live-service games: if attackers give away $339 billion in virtual credits, what else can they do with personal data? Ubisoft faces pressure to patch quickly and communicate better, while the industry watches closely. Other shooters like Valorant or CS2 could learn: invest in backend audits now. At the time of writing, servers remain offline with no return date, but Ubisoft promises updates soon. Will Siege return stronger? Let's hope so. Because this Christmas mess leaves a bad taste.

This disaster serves as a reminder that in 2025, with AI and cyberattacks evolving, no company is 100% secure. The hackers not only played dirty, but also publicly humiliated Ubisoft with taunt messages in admin feeds. Hope lies in a successful rollback and a patch that closes the vulnerability once and for all.