R6 Shieldguard & Anti-Toxicity – Y10S1 UPDATE

Today our R6 Shieldguard and Anti-Toxicity teams will be sharing their latest updates. We'll have a deep dive on features and results from Y10S1, as well as a look at some of the updates coming to the game in the future.

IN THIS UPDATE

R6 ShieldGuard

ANTI-TOXICITY

• Standing Distribution

• Impacts - Negative Actions Decreasing

• Tuning & Additional Repercussions

• Automated Textchat Moderation

STATUS OVERVIEW

Cheater reports have seen a downward trend throughout Y9S3, and this continued right up to the release of Y10S1.1. Since the Y10S1.1 update, we have seen an increase in cheater reports on PC. Thanks to your in-game cheater reports, our team has identified a correlation to some of our recent security updates.  Below we'll dive into  those updates and the action we're taking to turn this latest development around.

MAKING OUR CODE STRONGER - NEW TECHNOLOGY

In Y10S1 and in partnership with the security teams of Ubisoft, we introduced a hardening technology which enables new ways to secure our game code, making it more robust against cheat makers. This new technology now serves as a foundation for many other security improvements that will ship throughout the year.

WE ARE CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVING

The in-game impact of this technology was positive initially, though following Y10S1.1, we recorded an increase in cheater reports. We've seen that there is room for improvement, however this has only bolstered our commitment, and so we've worked to push new features throughout Y10S1, making the system more secure. Additionally, we've kept to our commitment to push security updates alongside patches, and so security hotfixes will continue leading up to and after the release of Siege X. Two additional security hotfixes are scheduled for deployment in May to further reinforce this approach.

FIGHTING LAG ABUSE TO PROTECT FAIR PLAY

In Y10S1, and with the help of the community, we fixed several exploits that were abusing network lag. We want to take the opportunity to heartfully thank the community, from content creators to everyone who submitted R6Fix reports. You have all helped us to both reproduce and fix many of these exploits that were possible on console. We're continuing to monitor the situation and to help prevent lag exploits on a wider basis, we are currently working on a global solution, using stricter network tolerations (More info to come soon).

PREVENTING MnK ON CONSOLE

Previously we shared that console cheater reports increased after the launch of Crossplay, and that we fixed an exploit that would allow spoofers to by-pass detection. We can now confirm that reports have seen a drop of approximately 20%. However, Console cheater reports are still higher than pre-crossplay  numbers and we are aware of anti-recoil cheats disrupting the community. Although our data shows that MouseTrap is performing well, catching spoofing devices such as Xim and Cronus, it currently lacks anti-recoil detection capabilities. We want to be clear, anti-recoil cheats are not acceptable, irrespective of platform. Although we cannot communicate on our roadmap at this time, rest assured that this is one of the R6 Shieldguard team's top priorities, and we are actively researching solutions. In the meantime, please continue to submit in-game reports.

SIEGE X & FUTURE PLANS

SECURITY UPDATES WITH EACH PATCH

We will keep making our code stronger with Siege X and beyond. A security update will go live at launch, with more updates rolling out season after season specifically targeting the ability for cheats to stay online and disrupt the game.

R6 SHIELDGUARD UPDATES LIVE, NO MAINTENANCE REQUIRED

A major update to R6 Shieldguard will allow us to distribute new executables with updated security measures to players without the need for scheduled maintenance. Periodically, a security update will be downloaded, and players will be asked to reboot their game. Note that this will never happen during a match. After a reboot, players can continue playing, knowing that they are now on a newer executable with new security measures. This will make cheats more difficult to make and more costly to maintain, forcing cheats to stay offline longer.

SANCTIONS

Thanks to the new gameplay violations introduced in Y10S1, combined with automated data analysis and investigations from our team, we continued the momentum from the start of the year by issuing strong permanent ban waves in March, resulting in over 6,500 R6 Shieldguard perma-bans that month alone. On average since the beginning of the year, R6 Shieldguard has issued about 2 times more permanent bans than last year, a clear testament to the performance and evolution of our systems.

PERMA-BAN NUMBERS - BATTLEYE + R6 BANS

Check out the last 12 months of perma-ban data, including new data for 2025.

FINAL NOTE

With Siege X on the horizon, R6 Shieldguard remains at the forefront of the fight against cheating. Our team is actively researching, developing, and evolving across all areas of the Anti-Cheat space. Whether you're playing on PC or Console, we have exciting plans to further enhance your experience and ensure a fair game for everyone.

Operation Prep Phase marked the full release of the Reputation System; the Beta tag is gone, and Impacts are now online. This is the first time that players have seen rewards or repercussions based on their Reputation Standing alone, and today our Anti-Toxicity team will be detailing how Impacts have affected the game so far. The team will also be sharing a few details on upcoming updates, and how they plan to make Siege and its Anti-Toxicity systems better for everyone.

REPUTATION SYSTEM FULL RELEASE

STANDING DISTRIBUTION UPDATE - [IMPACTS LIVE]

The activation of Impacts has resulted in a positive change in player behavior, and we've got the data to show it. The percentage of players in positive Standings (Respectable, Esteemed, Exemplary) has increased across the board, while the percentage of those in negative Standings (Disruptive and Dishonorable) has reduced. We can see that players who were previously recurrently toxic have adapted to the new Impacts by changing their behavior. We'd also like to insist on the fact that "Respectable" is a good standing where players receive positive perks.

KEY STATS

In comparison to last season we have seen:

• A decrease of -23% players in Dishonorable.

• An increase of +37% players in Exemplary.

IMPACTS - NEGATIVE ACTIONS DECREASING

There are a number of in-game behaviors that have seen an improvement as part of the shift in Standing distribution. Here are a few stats showing just how behavior has changed in Y10S1 thanks to the full release of the Reputation System.

• -21% change to the number of negative actions per player match (see graph below).

• +21% change to the number of positive actions per player match (see graph below).

• -22% intentional team kills in Ranked and -23% in Standard.

• -16% abandoned matches in Ranked, and -14% in Standard.

• -35% friendly gadget destruction in Ranked, and -43% in Standard.

Here is a detailed look at the amount of negative actions completed per player match, where we can see an overall downward trend. Of course, we do expect these figures to evolve over time, and particularly within the first 90 days of Impact activation. Our team will continue to analyze this data as we move forward, reacting and adapting where necessary.

DISHONORABLE - ADDITIONAL REPERCUSSIONS

This season, we added additional measures specifically targeting consistently toxic players. Dishonorable players who continue to significantly exceed the negative unit limit are now automatically temporarily banned. If those players continue to be disruptive after their return, they are manually reviewed for potential permanent ban.

TUNING, EXPANDING, QOL

Looking ahead, we have plans to improve the Reputation System experience. Our plans include:

• Introducing more nuanced team-kill tracking to alleviate frustration around unintentional incidents.

• Enhancing and expanding positive action recognition.

• Addressing new areas of concern that hinder a positive environment, such as in-game idling, boosting with cheaters, and more.

AUTOMATED TEXTCHAT MODERATION

FLAGS AND FALSE POSITIVES

Our Automated Textchat Moderation is helping to reduce toxicity in the game. The percentage of removed and flagged messages has decreased by 50% since launch, even while more messages are being sent overall (see graph below). Over 200 million text chat messages are analyzed each month and fewer than 1% of these are being removed, with less than 2% being flagged.

We are continuously fine-tuning the system to minimize false positives as much as possible (any messages which are flagged or removed unnecessarily). Currently, false positives are estimated to make up 0.1% of all flagged or removed messages, equating to around 6,000 messages per month. We know that an incorrect flag feels unfair; rest assured that a single false positive should not severely impact your Reputation Standing. We rely on your help to improve the system by reporting any incorrect detections that you experience through R6Fix. Thanks for your cooperation!

WHAT ELSE IS COMING?

While the Reputation System has our full and ongoing support, our team is also working on more features to improve the overall game experience, player comfort, and privacy.

Automated Voice Chat Moderation:

• Enhancing detection and enforcement to address the most toxic players using in-game voice chat, across both PC and consoles.

Improved Privacy Settings for PC and Consoles:

• Automatically assigning nicknames to players.

• Enabling all privacy settings on consoles.

Enhanced Abandonment Penalty System:

• Reducing frustration caused by "unfair" abandonment penalties due to crashes.

• Refining detection to focus on players who frequently abandon matches on a long window period.

Revamped In-Game Reporting:

• Introducing greater granularity to reporting options.

• Providing players with clearer insights into how their reports are utilized.

FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES

We're pleased with the progress made in Siege this year when it comes to reducing toxicity and creating a more welcoming ecosystem. That said, we recognize there is still significant room for growth and refinement. Our ongoing challenge remains to be fostering a positive environment while staying true to the game's unique culture. We do understand that the perception of toxicity can vary greatly though, depending on an individual's sensitivities. As such, not everyone may align with our standards, which is why your feedback is invaluable to us---we're always listening and evolving.

Thank you for your continued support, understanding, and patience. Stay positive and make the game better!