Rainbow Six Siege was at its best as a tactical shooter. It hasn’t been the same for several years now though, and 2022 could be its worst year yet.
Ubisoft unveiled the Rainbow Six Siege 2022 roadmap back in February, but the reveal hasn’t inspired much interest in the game as it enters its seventh year. The roadmap focuses on the next four seasons with each season releasing a new operator, changing fundamental game features, and adding a new battle pass for players to enjoy. While having new Rainbow Six Siege operators in the game is always appreciated as they keep things fresh, the additional features being introduced this year aren’t enough to right the ship. Additions such as attacker re-pick, permanent arcade mode, and permanent team deathmatch are cool along with operator tips and a shooting range that are all much-needed quality of life tweaks. However, even with the myriad of new features, the core game is still in a poor state.
Despite starting as a fairly balanced online shooter, Rainbow Six Siege has suffered from a number of balancing issues the more operators it’s introduced, as well performance problems, and Ubisoft having to deal with cheaters. One of the biggest problems is attacker and defender disparities despite the addition of attacker re-pick. Defenders already have the easier task of denying entry to an objective, though that difference stems from the formula of the game. Ubisoft cannot alter the basic gameplay loop that renders defending easier so it has to give attackers additional tools for a chance to be more effective. However, defenders have so many gadgets that attacker re-pick is necessary to even the playing field. While the heavy trap meta from the early days of Siege is dying, it hasn’t gone away yet. Breaching for attackers becomes a very slow and meticulous game of finding traps so they don’t die before they have the chance to shoot. A lot has gone wrong for Rainbow Six Siege recently, and season updates have only contributed to the current game state.
Ubisoft’s questionable balance changes continue to ruin the lore and fun of Rainbow Six Siege. For example, a recent patch implemented by Ubisoft changed Smoke’s ability so that he is now damaged by his own gas gadget. A change like this not only undermines the visual clarity of the game, as Smoke wears a gas mask with a filtration system, but it also ignores the game’s lore for the sake of gameplay. This is only one of several changes that have either gutted operators or made them so strong that they are inevitably gutted after being buffed. Unfortunately, a lot of Ubisoft’s balance changes aren’t even aimed at the main player base, but instead toward Rainbow Six Siege‘s dwindling competitive Esports scene.
Siege isn’t generating enough Esports revenue to risk losing the main player base. The league has awarded about $24 million in prize money through its 353 tournaments, according to Esports Earnings. However, that number brings the game to 11 on the list of awarded prize money, with newer games like PubG and Fortnite eclipsing it. 11 in the world isn’t bad by any means, but newer games like Valorant are already beginning to catch up. Even Overwatch, a game that hasn’t hosted a tournament in nearly a year, has still outearned Siege. Sadly Rainbow Six Siege is moving away from what makes the Tom Clancy games unique, and is suffering accordingly. According to Statista, Siege peaked this year at 74.82 thousand players on Steam despite the game’s peak of 198.83 thousand in 2021. All games have a finite lifespan, but it’s clear that Ubisoft’s current approach isn’t working.
Rainbow Six Siege was at its best as a tactical team shooter game. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been that sort of game for a long time. The game is filled with over-the-top gadgets that lend themselves better to arcade mode and team deathmatch. There’s nothing wrong with the gadgets in isolation, but the most high-tech gadget used to be in the realm of Jaeger’s active defense system, Twitch’s shock drone, or IQ’s electronic detector. The road map’s next four operators will probably have tech in the same vein as Aruni’s laser door traps. Considering Rainbow Six Siege is a part of the Tom Clancy brand, it’s sad to see it has failed to uphold its tactical espionage elements. Hopefully, Ubisoft rethinks its direction before Rainbow Six Siege loses its player base entirely.
Source: Ubisoft, Esports Earnings, Statista
Keith Holmes Jr. is a contracted writer with Screen Rant, writing within the Games and Features section of the site. Keith is also the sports editor of the Mercer University Cluster newspaper and has worked with Georgia Public Broadcasting, the Macon Telegraph, and other publications. Keith enjoys writing as much as he enjoys gaming and writing fiction in his free time. Will be attending Stetson University in the summer for his MFA in Creative Writing.
