Competitive games are the most fun when everyone is playing on the same field, and that's why hackers get so much ire from fans. When a player works hard to get good at a game, only to lose to someone who had enough money or technical expertise for an exploit, it feels like a lot of wasted time. Every so often fans get so annoyed with the hackers in a game that they band together to let the developers know. Such is the case with the current state of Rainbow Six Siege, whose fanbase is boycotting the developer Ubisoft after stating it has failed to provide an anti-cheat program that goes far enough in preventing hackers.
Currently, Rainbow Six Siege has an anti-cheat system in place called BattlEye. This system is used in all kinds of games, but Rainbow Six Siege fans claim that it doesn't stop a lot of the hackers, as they've since found ways around the frequently used system. Among those boycotting the game are popular content creators like KingGeorge and YoBoyRoy, who are also telling their fans not to buy any in-game currency until Ubisoft deals with this long-known issue. Seeing as the game has made Ubisoft over a billion dollars since it released, it would be smart for the company to consider looking into the situation immediately.
BattlEye Anti-Cheat
As it currently stands, BattlEye stops cheating on over 40 competitive games, including Rainbow Six Siege. The service was first released in the early 2000s for the Battlefield games, and has since grown to ban cheaters on titles across the world. However, as it has grown more common in use, so have the hackers and modders who make money off of finding exploits in the system. The biggest issue facing BattlEye isn't the hackers, but is instead the people finding holes and ways to get around the 16 year old software.
There are examples of content creators finding ways around BattlEye in an attempt to get blocked by using explicit hacks. Back in 2018, YouTube creator Basically Homeless tried to get banned from Rainbow Six Siege by slowly amping up his hacks. In his video titled "How 2 Get Banned From R6 Siege," he starts out by using macros and recoil scripts, but BattlEye doesn't detect him. He slowly amps up his hacks and then opens a support ticket with Ubisoft where he reports himself for cheating, and still nothing. It isn't until 2 months after his initial attempt, and a live chat with an Ubisoft agent, that he finally gets his desired ban.
Call to Action
Creators have put out videos to their fans, like KingGeorge above, to let them know that they will be participating in the Rainbow Six Siege currency boycott. Especially in this video, you can hear how annoyed and exasperated he is with playing with his honest skills against people who manipulate the game. Often it's not even because the hackers enjoy the game, but instead enjoy the reaction and attention they get from trolling content creators. It can be exhausting when you spend all day trying to get good at a game, only to be one-upped by someone using an aim-bot.
This call for Rainbow Six Siege to improve its anti-cheat programs is an example of a wider issue that gaming companies are being faced with right now. Cheaters are also in Apex Legends, which uses Easy Anti-Cheat, and have caused problems for more than a few streamers and Respawn as a whole. Competitive games can be difficult starting out, but that doesn't mean that players should leap past those who put in the time to get better at the game. Ubisoft needs to do better at preventing cheaters, and hackers need to learn how to really play.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege is available right now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.