They said it couldn't happen. They were wrong.
For years, console players had one thing to flex on PC: no cheaters. Sure, you dealt with MnK adapters and the occasional lag switcher, but actual wallhacks? That was PC's problem. Not anymore.
The Walls Have Eyes Now
A Reddit post dropped yesterday that's got the Siege community losing their minds. A console ranked player posted footage of an opponent who was—there's no other way to put it—walling. Prefiring through solid surfaces, tracking players through walls, the whole deal.
The comments are exactly what you'd expect. Half the thread is people going "finally someone else noticed" and the other half still coping with "maybe it's just game sense." Brother, nobody has game sense that lets them prefire your exact head height through three walls.
What makes this different from your usual hackusation thread? Multiple players confirmed similar encounters. This isn't a one-off desync clip getting misread. Something changed.
How Is This Even Possible?
Here's where it gets technical. Console anti-cheat has always relied on the closed ecosystem. You can't just inject code into an Xbox or PlayStation the way you can a PC. The hardware literally doesn't allow it.
Or so we thought.
The working theory making rounds is that these cheats are running through modded capture cards or external devices that intercept network traffic. Think of it like a cronus on steroids—the console itself stays clean while the cheat runs on separate hardware reading game data.
Ubi's BattlEye runs on the console. It can't detect what's happening on a separate device that's just... watching. It's a blindspot nobody planned for because nobody thought someone would go this far for Siege ranked.
Why This Hits Different in 2026
Siege is in a weird spot right now. Player counts have stabilized after the Year 9 exodus, but the ranked grind is more punishing than ever. The new ELO adjustments mean you need win streaks to climb, not just a positive W/L.
So when you're grinding Diamond lobbies and some dude is literally seeing through walls? That's not just frustrating. That's hours of your life deleted.
The timing couldn't be worse. Rainbow Six esports is pushing console more than ever with the Challenger League expansions. If competitive integrity takes a hit at the ranked level, the whole pipeline gets poisoned.
What Ubi Needs to Do (But Probably Won't)
Let's be real about what's likely to happen: nothing fast enough.
The correct response would be implementing server-side detection for suspicious behavior patterns. The tech exists—Valorant's Vanguard does kernel-level anti-cheat, but more importantly, Riot also runs behavioral analysis on the server side.
Ubi could flag accounts that consistently prefire positions without info. They could detect statistically impossible reaction times. They could actually ban hardware IDs linked to suspicious network patterns.
Will they? History says don't hold your breath. It took them years to address MnK adapters, and the "solution" was basically asking players nicely to stop.
The Solo Queue Tax
Here's the uncomfortable truth: if you're grinding ranked solo, you're rolling the dice every match. Not just on teammates—now on whether your opponents are playing the same game you are.
You can hit every shot, make every callout, and still lose because someone on the other team has cheat codes. It's the worst feeling in competitive gaming. All that practice, all that VOD review, all that grinding T-hunts to warm up—and it means nothing against someone with walls.
Real talk: if the solo grind is making you hate a game you used to love, maybe it's time to stop gambling on the system. Getting a rank boost isn't giving up—it's refusing to let cheaters and coinflip teammates steal more of your time.
The Community Response
The subreddit thread is a masterclass in the five stages of grief. You've got denial ("fake clip"), anger (obviously), bargaining ("maybe if we all report..."), depression ("this game is dead"), and very little acceptance.
What's actually useful in the thread: players sharing their own encounters, noting patterns, documenting usernames. The community is doing Ubi's job for them—building a case file that should trigger an investigation.
Whether Ubisoft actually investigates is another question. Their track record on console specifically isn't inspiring. The game has always felt like a PC-first title that tolerates console players rather than prioritizing them.
What You Can Actually Do
Besides hoping Ubi gets their act together, here's the practical advice:
Record everything. Every sus death, clip it. The more documented evidence exists, the harder it is to ignore. Share clips in the subreddit, tag community managers, make noise.
Play in stacks. Five-stacks can't prevent cheaters, but at least you control your own team's integrity. Plus, coordinated teams can sometimes outplay even someone with info advantage—callouts and trades matter.
Report properly. In-game reports feel useless, but they do create data points. Combine with Ubi support tickets for serious offenders. Include clip links.
Don't tank your mental. This is the hard one. If you're running into this regularly, take breaks. No rank is worth hating your hobby.
The Bigger Picture
Console gaming is entering a new era of cheating vulnerability. It's not just Siege—Warzone console has seen similar external device exploits. As the hardware to pull this off gets cheaper and more accessible, expect the problem to spread.
Game companies need to treat this like the arms race it is. Cheaters adapt, developers need to adapt faster. But that requires investment and priority that most publishers don't give to anti-cheat until there's a PR crisis.
Maybe this is that crisis. Maybe the community outcry reaches the right ears at Ubisoft Montreal. Or maybe we're all just shouting into the void while the ranked ladder slowly loses meaning.
The Verdict
Console Siege isn't dead, but it's definitely sick. The trust that made console competitive viable—the assumption that everyone's on an even playing field—just took a massive hit.
Ubi has a window to respond. A real anti-cheat update, actual bans, some acknowledgment that they're aware. Radio silence will be the nail in the coffin for competitive integrity on console.
My prediction? We'll get a vague statement in about two weeks, some bans that may or may not target the actual cheaters, and the problem will persist at lower levels. That's the Ubi special. Hope I'm wrong.
Until then, trust no one. Even on console. Especially in Diamond+.