Xbox and Windows players can’t use Rated Mode currently
Those trying to go back and play some good killer instinct in the past few days have faced an unexpected situation – they can’t play the basic mode online at all.
The Killer Instinct community is currently reporting that a hacker has cracked online rated game modes, rendering them completely unusable.
If you try to wait for a match right now on the Xbox or Windows version of KI, the game simply hangs trying to sync ladder information to the server before failing, and there’s no way around it.
This does not currently affect the Steam version of the game, which has a separate leaderboard, but the majority of active players use Xbox Live.
PAR |NickyFGC He was among the first to sound the alarm about a serious error in a video to help spread awareness, and is understandably concerned about the community he has been a part of since KI launched in 2013.
“This is a huge problem for our community because ratings are a huge reason why people play the game,” NickyFGC told EventHubs. “Despite what people think, we have a very active community with weekly tournaments and prize pools, and rankings have been a great way to warm up for these events. Players can’t just jump around and look for matches anymore.”
Alleged hackers in this situation are said to have caused problems for years in KI by adding a large number of fake users to the top of ranked leaderboards while impersonating another player.
The leaderboards seem to have probably reached their breaking point, and now no one can play.
“Not only did this person single-handedly remove the main cause of mattress grinding, but also completely cleared the situation away,” NickyFGC said.
Whether or not the individual(s) in question are actively trying to remove the online service, we don’t know, but this is the current outcome either way.
Fortunately, other online modes like Galleries and Lobbies still work, so players can battle each other with those although some have reported resetting their player ranks and connection times to servers can be longer.
This is still a huge problem for the game because even though Killer Instinct was first released nearly a decade ago, there is still an active and dedicated player base directly affected by this hack.
Killer Instinct fans are also justifiably concerned that this may not be fixed, and the ranked mode will remain permanently disabled.
The game hasn’t received an update (aside from adding Xbox backward compatibility) since March 2018, and KI’s former developer Iron Galaxy is no longer working on the series.
After 5 and a half years of being an old title, Microsoft may not see hacking KI as a big enough priority to fix it (since they haven’t done so before), and that’s even if they know how to fix it at this very point.
There’s at least one big glimmer of hope for Xbox to contend with it because unlike older hacked games like Call of Duty or Titanfall, there’s no newer entry for players to go to.
This killer instinct is the latest, and it’s currently cracked on its main platforms.
He also owns Phil Spencer from Xbox I’ve talked several times in the past about wanting to forge another killer instinctand there they are Rumors of something being worked on.
It wouldn’t exactly be Microsoft’s greatest appearance if they wanted to market a new KI in the near future when the latter was left in a broken state.
If all else fails, the community will likely have to switch to the Steam version of Killer Instinct, but that’s also not a happy solution for gamers who have lost years of work and progress.
Fans and gamers can help make Microsoft aware of the issue and show a request to fix it by messaging Xbox Support on Twitter and reporting to Xbox Support Website.
“Freelance web ninja. Wannabe communicator. Amateur tv aficionado. Twitter practitioner. Extreme music evangelist. Internet fanatic.”