Steam, Riot Games hit by disruptions: massive DDoS attack suspected

Multiplayer gamers on different platforms have experienced service outages and disruptions simultaneously. The cybersecurity community suspects a major distributed denial of service attack (DDoS) from Aisuru, a massive botnet pushing out record-breaking traffic.

Downdetector users are reporting widespread problems affecting Steam and Riot Games, two of the world’s largest gaming platforms. Gamers complain about being unable to play major titles, such as Counter-Strike, Dota 2, Valorant, League of Legends, and many others.

Outage reports began surging around 8:00 PM EDT on October 6th, with thousands of users mentioning losing server connections. The brief disruptions have recurred several times since.

Riot Games' status page confirmed critical game disconnection issues, affecting gamers on all major platforms: Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.

“We’re aware of a problem causing players to disconnect from their games and have disabled ranked queues while we investigate,” the alert reads.

The disconnection issues prompted the developer to disable ranked games.

The issues also seem to be affecting other major platforms, including non-gaming ones. More reports than usual were received about issues affecting PlayStation Network, Epic Games, Hulu, AWS, xfinity, Cox, and other services.

The internet is melting: Steam down. Epic Games down. AWS down. Cloudflare wobbling.

f you’re refreshing, you’re not alone. pic.twitter.com/Q98TmTqVYj

undefined CHRISPI (@cripto_lion) October 7, 2025

Massive DDoS attack suspected

While official confirmations are still pending, many cybersecurity experts attribute the disruptions to a massive DDoS attack, allegedly from Aisuru, which is likely the largest currently operating botnet.

“Attackers began a series of sophisticated TCP carpet bomb attacks that aim to replicate legitimate traffic as closely as possible. This is one of the more advanced attack vectors we’ve seen, and we worked quickly to develop a patch and ship it out globally,” one cyber defender’s alert was quoted on Reddit.

Cybercrime news reporter vxdb on X reported about the DDoS attack, likely originating from the Aisuru botnet, that had shattered all previous records: the bandwidth reached 29.69 terabits per second (Tbps).

The previous record was 22.2 Tbps – a DDoS attack on September 23rd, blocked by Cloudflare, was twice as large as anything seen on the internet before.

The Aisuru botnet, first discovered by XLab researchers in August 2024, has been growing ever since and has repeatedly broken records. In May, it attacked KrebsOnSecurity, a cybersecurity blog, with a 6.3 terabit per second data rate. This September, the attacks peaked at 11.5Tbps.

According to XLab, this mega botnet spreads by compromising vulnerable internet-connected devices, such as A-MTK cameras, D-Link, Linksys, and other routers, gateways, DVRs, and others. The latest estimates suggest that the botnet controls around 300,000 nodes.

The group behind Aisuru seems highly organized. It employs advanced techniques to evade detection and maintain control of the infected systems. The researchers also noted attempts to convey certain ideological content.

“The Aisuru botnet has launched attacks worldwide, spanning multiple industries. Its primary targets have been located in regions such as China, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. The attacks show no strong signs of selectivity, with several hundred targets hit on a daily basis,” XLab warned.

This massive cybercrime infrastructure now also seems to be exploited for proxy services.

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