To follow up on our last Top Issues update below in April, we would like to give you all a status update on the hacking, cheating, and lobby-freezing issues. We'll go over some of the steps we have taken where we have found success, where we are still working to make improvements, as well as emphasize our continued focus on cheating and hacking as priority issues.

Lobby-Freezing: Lobby-freezing occurs while in menu or while loading into a round, and no connectivity icons will appear.

Update: After our April Top Issues blog, we made an update to the game that would allow us to gather more data to accurately track and identify lobby-freezers. We were able to successfully use that data to implement an auto-kick feature for individuals identified as holding up games through extreme loading times. Kicked players will receive an abandon sanction and be locked out of ranked/unranked until the match is over. We have been monitoring the automatic kicks for some time now on the live servers and have observed high success rates of detecting and only kicking players who are holding up lobbies to the detriment of the other players in the game. We are continuing to gather data on console lobby-freezing before we finalize plans to activate the lobby-freeze autokick detection on console as well.

DOS: DOS attacks can be distinguished from lobby-freezing as they typically occur during gameplay and the connectivity icons will appear.

Update: We have also observed some unusual network traffic and activity for Console players and suspect that some cases of lobby-freezing on Console may be tied to DOS attacks. We are currently pursuing this and investigating the issue and will update when we learn more.

Update: In our last update, we re-emphasized that we do not tolerate cheating in-game and were preparing a number of short and long term strategies to address the cheating frustrations. While we are aware this is still an ongoing issue, we believe these upcoming changes will help to mitigate some of the frustrations as we work internally on more robust long-term solutions.

• Offline Bans (Target date: End of May): We will begin banning players offline. Previously sanctioned accounts were banned after logging back into Siege. Accounts will now be banned even if they remain offline. This will provide more clarity on the ban feedback loop and improve visibility on banned accounts.
  
• Increased Clearance Level Requirements for Ranked (Target date: Y5S2): In Y5S2 we will be increasing the required clearance level for players to play Ranked. This is aimed at increasing the barrier to access for illegitimate accounts for Ranked to promote a better Ranked environment.
  
• Increased Champion Rank Requirements (Target date: Y5S2): In Y5S2 we will be increasing the requirements for players to be eligible for Champion Rank. In addition to meeting the minimum 5000 MMR, eligible layers will be required to have played at least 100 ranked matches to qualify. This is also aimed at increasing the barrier to access for illegitimate accounts and maintaining a clean Champion leaderboard
  
• XP level cap in PvE: (Status: Active) We have already put an XP cap in PvE in place in order to increase barriers to entry for Ranked for smurfs.

Updated: 23 April 2020

We will be updating the following list regularly to outline the status of certain issues that are currently pressing for our community. Please note that this list is not exhaustive, and should only be used as a reference to give a general idea of where our focus currently is.

We have recently observed an increase in cheating mentions and reports from players. We want to emphasize that we do not tolerate cheating in game and are working on multiple strategies to address the cheating frustrations and uphold the competitive integrity of Rainbow Six Siege. Below are some of the strategies that we can share that are being worked on for the short-term.

Description: We've seen an increase in incidences of lobby freezers seeking to disrupt games to their advantage. We will be releasing update(s) that will allow us to better monitor and more accurately track lobby-freezers.

Objective: The updates will allow us to gather necessary data points that we will use to accurately track and identify lobby-freezing. In future updates we will use this data to automatically detect and kick lobby-freezers.

Status: This is currently an ongoing process.

Description: Due to the increased mentions and player reports of cheating, we are reinforcing the bridge between R6 and BattlEye.

Objective: Strengthen our collaboration with BattlEye by implementing automated processes and reinforcing data sharing to shorten the feedback loop on banned players.

Status: Ongoing.


Description: Increase Ranked and Champion Rank requirements.

Objective: Increase the barrier to access for illegitimate accounts to both Ranked and Champion rank to promote a better Ranked environment and a clean Champion leaderboard.

Status: (Target: Y5S2) We will have more specifics on the new requirements closer to S2.

Description: Daily level grind cap from PvE as a prevention tactic to make Ranked requirements less accessible to illegitimate accounts.

Objective: Our goal is to make Ranked less easily accessible to bots and smurfs by limiting the daily XP that can be earned in PvE. This will make it easier for us to spot and catch bots and smurfs before they are able to make their way into Ranked.

Status: We are aiming to have this completed as soon as possible.

Description: An error was found in the matchmaking flow that was causing players to receive abandon sanctions if they left the Ranked queue right as a match was found. Players were already processed as being in the match when they had already backed out.

Objective: The game flow will be modified so that the penalty warning message for abandon can be displayed earlier, and coincide with the time when the penalty system will effectively apply.

Status: (Target Y5S2) A fix is scheduled for Y5S2.

Description: An error was found in the matchmaking flow that was causing matches to start with incomplete teams if a player exited the Ranked queue right as a match was found. These players were already processed as being in the match when they had already backed out, resulting in games starting with incomplete teams.

Objective: Part of the solution is to correct when the abandon sanction warning message popup is displayed to alert players that they have already entered a match and deter them from leaving. We are also working on a Match Cancellation feature which will allow players to cancel matches in the early stages of a game under the condition that their team is incomplete (this will come later to the PC TS in Y5S2).

Status: (Target Y5S2) A fix is scheduled for Y5S2.

Description: Past completed Community Challenges show up as "Coming Soon" in the Battle Pass menu after the challenge is over. This is purely a visual bug.

Status: (Target Y5S2) A fix is scheduled for this bug with the Y5S2 BP update.

Description: The popups notifying players of an MMR rollback after a cheater has been banned is displaying the incorrect values. This is a purely a visual bug.

Status: (Target Y5S3) This is currently under investigation.


Description: This feature improves the current PC Hardware Benchmark tool in Siege, giving detailed information and performance reports about their hardware specifications and resource usages.

Objective: We are working toward a new benchmark test that better conveys how Siege performs on different setups.

Status: (Target Y5S2).

Description: There are inconsistencies in how gadgets interact/destroy props on maps.

Status: (Target: Y5S3) Similar to how we implemented consistency on how props break on projectile trajectory in Y4S4, we are working on a system for deployable gadgets’ interaction with these props.

Description: Ranked games will sometimes begin with incomplete teams due to players leaving at the very start of the match.

Objective: To address frustrations where players are placed into a game with incomplete teams on either side, we are working on a Match Cancellation feature. The goal will be to allow players to cancel matches in the early stages of a game under the condition that their team is incomplete.

Status: (Target Y5S2 on the PC TS) Match Cancellation is scheduled to be released on the PC Test Server in Y5S2.

Description: Improved in-game notifications and feedback for when an Operator has been deactivated.

Status: (Target: Y5S3) There have been times when we have had to deactivate an Operator in-game to better the play experience when exploits arise. We are working on better feedback to our players when such an occasion arises.