Ubi_Zurik

Whether you're jumping into Arcade or getting your squad together for a Ranked session, the one thing that all players need is a reliable online experience. In this blog, we'll shed some light on connectivity in 2023, look at what we've achieved, analyze any unplanned downtime, and take a peek at what the Connectivity team is working on.

A YEAR IN REVIEW Firstly, let's take a closer look at some of the changes brought to the game over the past year that had directly impacted Connectivity, so that we can deep dive into some of the solutions put in place to improve the overall player experience.

UNPLANNED MAJOR DOWNTIME Downtime is likely to be the biggest concern for most players when it comes to connectivity. Downtime of a game's online services can have a wide array of causes, many of which are not linked to the game's servers themselves. Issues rel... Read more

Every season when we roll out fresh content, we also provide an updated Roadmap to ensure transparency on upcoming features. When making those adjustments, we take various elements into account, including your feedback. Furthermore, we aim to offer additional insight into what you can anticipate from the upcoming Operation.

Now let's delve into the mid-season Roadmap update.



ROADMAP UPDATES
[MAIN FEATURE] NEW MAP

• Status: Confirmed for Y8S4

Y8S4 will bring an exciting addition to the Rainbow Six Siege map lineup. We have been building a new map on the foundation of verticality with carefully designed layouts and fresh avenues for strategic possibilities like never before! Make sure to watch ... Read more

Y8S3.3 PATCH NOTES
See the upcoming changes to Rainbow Six Siege with the release of Y8S3.3.

OPERATOR BALANCING
FROST

• Operators who fall onto a Welcome Mat will be able to remove it from their leg by themselves or with the help of a teammate.
  
• Operators who fall onto a Welcome Mat are considered downed. R6 allows a player to be in downed only once per round, if they have been downed already, they will be eliminated if they fall onto a Welcome Mat.
  
• If Operators remove the trap without the help of a teammate, a debuff will be applied to them for 60 seconds with these effects:
  
  • Move 20% slower and can't sprint.
    
  • Leave a trail of blood behind.
    
  • Health is set to 20, same health you get after standing up from being downed.

... Read more

COMMENDATION SYSTEM: HOW IT WORKS
Y8S3.1 brings the latest update from the Player Protection team, the Commendation System. The Commendation System gives teammates a new avenue to share their thanks and appreciation with one another, while showing how they've added to the experience. In Siege your team matters, and any team member can be key to your victory and enjoyment. With this update, you can show players your gratitude and allow them to shine.

HOW IT WORKS
COMMENDING OTHERS Players will be able to give Commendations at the end of a Quick Match, Standard, or Ranked game, via the Commendation screen. Each session, players can commend up to two teammates by selecting one of three categories.

As well as showing your appreciation to teammates, you can vote to commend the opposing team. In order for the vote to be successful, a majorit... Read more

Y8S3.1 PATCH NOTES
See the upcoming changes to Rainbow Six Siege with the release of Y8S3.1.

Y8S3.1 Patch Size
Find the download sizes for each platform below.

• Ubisoft Connect: 5.82 GB
  
• Steam: 16.9 GB
  
• Xbox One: 3.09 GB
  
• Xbox Series X: 3.27 GB
  
• PS4: 3.99 GB
  
• PS5: 3.26 GB

BUG FIXES GAMEPLAY
FIXED - Ram's BU-GI Auto Breacher doesn't completely destroy first floor walls of 1F Strip Club on the Club House map.

FIXED - Ram's BU-GI Auto Breacher doesn't destroy Thunderbird's Kona Station if it's placed on a reinforced surface.

FIXED - Operators get stuck inside of a barrel when exiting rappel on the Fortress map.

FIXED - Defuser can't be retrieved if dropped when entering or exiting rappel stance ... Read more

CLASSIFIED: BALANCING TEAM - YEAR 8 AND BEYOND
BALANCING PHILOSOPHY & OBJECTIVES In Rainbow Six Siege, every operator is an expert, with a focused proficiency that gives them strength: very strong in the right situations but with flaws in the wrong ones. Our balancing philosophy is all about providing you with the right set of tools to confront very specific situations: for any situation you encounter in the game, there should be wide (but also limited) solutions.

This year, we aim to reduce the strong jack-of-all-trades operators to ensure every decision you make has a thoughtful process behind it. We also want to continue to enhance the game's tactical playstyle by working towards balancing solutions which emphasize the importance of our operator's gadgets.

You will find more details on our vision and plans below, as well as a ru... Read more

Y8S3 DESIGNER’S NOTES
In this latest edition of Designer's Notes, we'll go into detail about the balancing changes that'll come with the Y8S3 Update and give you some insight into the reasons behind them.






Please note that we are using presence to gauge the popularity of an Operator. This notion had to be introduced to reflect the implementation of the pick & ban.

Presence definition: pick rate of a... Read more

Y8S2.3 Patch Notes
See the upcoming changes to Rainbow Six Siege with the release of Y8S2.3.

Y8S2.3 Patch Size
Find the download sizes for each platform below.

• Ubisoft Connect: 1.12GB
  
• Steam: 1.5 GB
  
• Xbox One: 1.36 GB
  
• Xbox Series X: 1.64 GB
  
• PS4: 1.65 GB
  
• PS5: 1.57 GB

OPERATOR BALANCING VIGIL

• Vigil will share the same glitching behavior as Nøkk.
  
• The ERC-7 Video Disruptor will not be deactivated when performing certain actions, such as shooting, and instead will trigger the glitch effect on cameras.
  
• Vigil won't be immune to Lion's EE-ONE-D and Grim's Kawan Hive. Both gadgets will detect him, but he can prevent being pinged by activating the ERC-7.

NØKK
... Read more

REPUTATION SYSTEM BETA: STATUS UPDATE – JULY 2023
DURING Y8S1
PLAYER STANDING STABILITY
Since the release of the Reputation System Beta, we've made several shadow updates to not only improve the foundations of the Reputation System, but also the stability of player Standings and this has continued throughout Y8S1. During Y8S1, we made further changes to ensure that the occurrence and severity of a player's negative actions align with an equally severe impact on a player's Standing. We want players to have confidence in the system, so while adjusting the effects that certain actions have on a player's Reputation Standing, our goal is to make sure that Standings don't change match to match, time after time. As well as this, it's crucial that Standing changes are still happening when warranted and that the presence of the system is felt by abusers.
... Read more

CLASSIFIED: PLAYER PROTECTION UPDATES - YEAR 8 AND BEYOND
A YEAR IN REVIEW
One of the top complaints of PvP shooter players across the entire genre is cheating and toxic behavior. In the space of a single session, one cheater can ruin the experience for hundreds if not thousands of players. Over the last 12 months, Rainbow Six Siege and its Player Protection team have reoriented the way we think and develop features to address this challenge. This has led to the development of two industry-first systems, which we call MouseTrap and QB. These two systems have already had an enormous positive impact on the health of our game. Research and development undertaken has resulted in a suite of current and planned initiatives that are bringing creative and sometimes counter-intuitive solutions to problems that have plagued PvP shooter fans for years.

This i... Read more

Our latest Anti-Cheat Status Update for May 2023 is here.

BATTLEYE & DATA BANS
For an overview on bans, we bring our latest BattlEye and Data Ban numbers, including data for 2023.


*Total bans from previous months have been corrected following a database update.

CHEATS ADDRESSED
Since our last update we have worked to fortify our security behind the scenes, making cheat development more tedious. We have also fixed a number of cheats that were not player facing but affecting game balance.

MMR ROLLBACK
MMR Rollback was temporarily disabled following the release of Y8S1 to avoid bugs in rollbacks. We have since resolved the related issues and the M... Read more

Our latest Anti-Cheat Status Update for March 2023 is here, bringing the latest updates on anti-cheat and more.

BATTLEYE & DATA BANS
For an overview on bans, we bring our latest BattlEye and Data Ban numbers, including data for the last 6 months.



CHEATS ADDRESSED
We've addressed a number of cheats since our last Anti-Cheat Status Update which are listed below.

• Instant kill while in Prep Phase
• Code insertion via Ban Ticker
• Add/Remove score points
• Team chat accessed by cheater on opposing team
• Flores drone can be teleported

As well addressing new cheats, we've also been making constant updates to ensure that hacks that we're currently detecting remain detectable, protecting players.
... Read more

Reputation Score Beta: Status Update - January 2023
INSTABILITY OF PLAYER STANDINGS With the initial release of the system in BETA mode and some of the issues that were identified, we are aware that some players’ standings appear to be unstable and will change without clear feedback or gameplay activity.
To address this, we have already updated certain balancing aspects of the Reputation System and will continue to do so while also improving feedback and the types of behavior considered.

ABANDON MATCH IMPACT - (Quick Match, Event, and Newcomer playlists) Leaving a match affects other players, so we continue to discourage leaving ongoing matches too much. However, we've heard community feedback and have temporarily disabled this effect as we continue looking to bring a better balance.

PLAYER REPORTS Reports are a... Read more

This season the Reputation System will see its Beta release, after previously running in a shadow mode. With the Reputation System Beta, we’ll be taking the next step by giving and showing players their Reputation Standing, while also allowing players to improve their behavior, playstyle, and interactions with others, without receiving any positive or negative effects based on that Standing. Today, we are going to outline its evolution with the addition of the Reputation Standing feature and provide information on the Ubisoft Fair Play Program Beta.

WHAT, WHY, AND HOW FIRSTLY, WHAT IS TOXICITY? At its core, toxicity is any behavior that is harmful to the people around you. In Rainbow Six Siege, this can mean behaviors and actions that are deliberately or passively harmful to players, in either a direct or indirect way.
The ... Read more

IMPORTANT SECURITY UPDATE: NEW QB INITIATIVE
We recently released a security update to the PC population. This new initiative was developed over the past months to combat cheating.

While we cannot share details of the update in order to protect its integrity, we’re confident of the solution we’ve been able to put in place. We take the cheating concerns the community has shared with us seriously and are always looking for novel ways to secure both our game and players.

Note that we will be monitoring the effects of our change closely as it will have an impact on some third-party applications. We will also keep an eye out for any of your reports on changed behaviors.

Please do not hesitate to let us know if any new issues are encountered through the R6Fix platform as it will help us improve our solution.
... Read more

REPUTATION PENALTIES UPDATE
What Is It?
The written chat penalty aims to reduce unwanted communication and the impact that top offenders have on others in our game by triggering counter measures when repeated abuse is detected.

Expected Penalty Behavior
Players who engage with a high amount of text chat abuse will firstly receive warnings. If the offense continues after two warnings, the written chat penalty will be triggered, leading to the player’s outgoing text chat being muted to others by default for the next 30 matches.

Current State
Currently the system is in a grace period and during this period players will only receive warnings. Once over, players who did not adjust or amend their ways of communicating, will be sanctioned. We'll continue to monitor and improve this feature.
... Read more

BATTLEYE AND DATA BANS With every update we bring our latest BattlEye and Data Ban numbers.
Here are our latest BattEye and Data Ban numbers, including data until the end of June.




CHEATFIXES Throughout Vector Glare we’ve continued to fix cheats that are affecting players. Below you can see the fixes that have been deployed since our last Anti-Cheat Status Update.

• Instant kill players
• Forcing all other players to crash

We’ve also got multiple cheat fixes currently in the works. It’s too early to share details on what those are now, though we will be sharing more on these fixes in a future update.

PHONE NUMBER BLACKLISTING Phone Number verificatio... Read more

Below you will find the download sizes for each platform.

- Ubisoft Connect: 1.29 GB
- Steam: 1.6 MB
- Xbox One : 1.06 GB
- Xbox Series X : 1.41 GB
- PS4: 1.86 GB
- PS5: 1.15 GB

GAME HEALTH
REPUTATION PENALTY: REVERSE FRIENDLY FIRE

- Reputation Penalty has been added that activates Reverse Friendly Fire by default for players who injure too many teammates.
- Repeat offenders will receive a set of warnings notifying them of how they are seen by the system, and warn them to modify their play style before receiving a penalty.
- Reputation Penalty lasts multiple matches to address disruptive behavior in-game.  

BUG FIXES
GAMEPLAY
FIXED - Player is slowed and can't sprint if they quickly trigger Melusi's Banshee multiple times or step onto multiple of... Read more

When we first revealed the {LINK REMOVED}Year 7 roadmap back in February, we mentioned that it would change and evolve with each season, as new content is added and features are reprioritized to adapt to the reality of developing for a live game. Alongside the reveal of {LINK REMOVED}Operation Vector Glare, we shared the first of these roadmap updates and today, we have another one to share.

Fro... Read more

BATTLEYE AND DATA BANS With every update we bring our latest BattlEye and Data Ban numbers.
Here, our ban numbers include the full month of May.




RECENT FIXES With the release of Vector Glare, we’ve deployed a number of fixes that put a stop to cheats that have been affecting players. These include:

• Instant kill teammates
• Verifying gadget ownership - Stealing the defuser and gadgets
• Infinite ammo
• Killing teammates not counted as team kills
• Shooting without a weapon equipped - possible in certain circumstances


DATA BANS UPDATE We’re currently working on changing how we process the data involved with data bans, and we’re adjus... Read more