Rainbow Six disables MUTE Protocol playlist due to invincibility exploit

August 11 Update (5:30pm PT): Ubisoft has re-enabled the M.U.T.E. Protocol playlist in Rainbow Six after almost a week of downtime.

They have also extended the event until August 24 to compensate for lost time. 

Earlier: Ubisoft has taken the drastic step of disabling the new M.U.T.E. Protocol game mode just hours after launching it after players were abusing an invincibility exploit introduced by the new droning mechanic.

M.U.T.E. Protocol put an interesting twist on the core mechanics of Rainbow Six. You could drone ahead and ‘teleport’ right to your camera to appear in front of your enemy. Defenders could also use bulletproof cameras to jump across the map.

However, the new mechanic has proven to be the game mode’s downfall. As with everything new, there’s bound to be some bugs. The exploits found in M.U.T.E Protocol were on another level though.

Attackers could become invisible and invincible thanks to an easy exploit with their drones. There was a way players could become invincible, invisible, and immortal ⁠— making it impossible to win as Defenders without running down the clock.

All players had to do was rappel down to the bottom of the map from their spawn, throw their drones over the edge, teleport to them, and then teleport back up with another drone.

• Read more: Rainbow Six launches new M.U.T.E. Protocol event playlist

When they came back up, their player model, as well as all gun models, would be invisible. Enemies would be able to see certain things like Frag Grenades or Sledge’s Hammer swinging, but there’d be no way to fight back.

The exploit was rarely used at first, but it spread like wildfire. You weren’t able to queue a game in M.U.T.E. Protocol without seeing at least one player abusing the exploit. It was more common to see entire teams using it than not.

This glitch forced Ubisoft to bring down the playlist early to try and iron out the bugs. “The M.U.T.E Protocol Event has been temporarily deactivated after the discovery of an exploit,” they said on Twitter.

The mode was only expected to be around until August 17, however Ubisoft have also extended the length of the M.U.T.E. Protocol event so everyone gets a chance to play.

“We are working on a fix and hope to deliver it very soon. The event and Club Challenges will be extended once the fix is out. We will update everyone as soon as we have more to share.”