It was recently revealed that the Ubisoft development team in charge of Rainbow Six Siege would like to see the game go free-to-play some time in the future. The unique shooter originally launched back in 2015 and continues to perform very strongly on all platforms. Steam Stats regularly show R6 in the top five games with the most players and is now entering Year 5 of its DLC schedule.
The success of Rainbow Six Siege has also changed the long-term plans for the franchise, with no plans for a direct sequel in the pipeline.
But this also raises the question over how Ubisoft will keep the game viable in the future and when the PS5 and Xbox Series X arrive.
Ubisoft is certainly aware of how popular R6 remains and how well it would perform as a F2P product.
Rainbow Six Siege director Leroy Athanassoff spoke about this to PC Gamer, revealing: “It’s a company decision. I think on the development team we want that at some point. We want the game to be accessible to everyone,” he said.
Adding: “You need certain features ready to be a good and successful free-to-play game.”
One challenge that needs to be solved before any of this can happen is Smurfing, according to Athanassoff.
“What’s important for us is that we find out as soon as possible that a player is highly skilled in the things that matter,” he said.
“The problem right now is that you can play a certain amount of matches with Copper players while you’re a Diamond.”
Since this interview was conducted, Ubisoft has shared an update regarding Rainbow Six Siege and the potential of it going F2P in the future.
Ubisoft told PCGamesN this week that there is “currently no plan to make Rainbow Six Siege a F2P game.”
It’s not a change that was listed in the recent Year 5 Roadmap and it would make sense that the R6 team would rush into such a big change.
But saying that there are no current plans right now does not mean that the situation could change in 2021, or beyond.
Plans for the next two years of Rainbow Six Siege content were announced during the Six Invitational 2020, with no mention of F2P mechanics.
The roadmap did include references to big gameplay updates, map and Operator reworks, new events, and a change to the frequency at which new Operators are introduced.
“The first two seasons of Year 5 will keep the current format, with each season bringing two new Operators and a map rework,” a message from Ubisoft confirms.
“After that, however, the six subsequent seasons will each introduce one new Operator, a map rework, a limited-time event, and major gameplay updates.
“Beginning with Operation Void Edge, each season will also introduce a Battle Pass, offering players a new way to earn rewards.
“The planned gameplay changes will include fundamental updates that will affect all players, with priorities that include expanding player agency and getting players more invested in the preparation and support phases.
“Some of the planned changes announced so far include adding more secondary gadgets for all Operators; implementing a smart ping system designed to improve communication, especially for players who don’t use voice chat; adding a map ban option; and a new Reputation system that rewards or sanctions players based on their in-game behaviour.
“Year 5 will also begin delivering major reworks of existing Operators, beginning with Tachanka and followed by others in later seasons.”