Season 2 of the classic shooter Rainbow Six: Siege has just been introduced and while fans are quite happy, Ubisoft is currently experiencing a small shitstorm because of one of the mentioned features.
Nine years of Rainbow Six: Siege and there is no end in sight. Ubisoft presented the upcoming Year 9 Season 2 – Operation New Blood at the BLAST R6 Manchester Major this week. Not a bad idea, because the upcoming features are certainly impressive.
Recruit, one of the first operators ever, is getting a complete overhaul, along with the new Striker and Sentry archetypes, which give him significantly more flexibility in tactical use. There are also extensive balancing revisions (including nerfs for Fenrir and Solis) and new quality-of-life features. In addition, player protection and anti-cheat mechanics are being further improved, and there will be a new Rainbow Six marketplace from June 25th.
All well and good, but Ubisoft also announced a paid (albeit optional) R6 membership, to much less praise. For $10 per month, subscribers will get access to a premium Battle Pass, exclusive content, and other unique cosmetic items such as animated skins that are only available to players with an R6 membership. It was also confirmed that the R6 membership will include a monthly allotment of R6 credits that the player can save or spend on their game account as they wish.
This is actually nothing new and has become standard for many live service games. However, fans who have been used to something different for nine years are still upset. In particular, the fact that Ubisoft is introducing a paid service for a (formerly) full-price game after nine years is not exactly being received with goodwill. The value of the package, which some have compared to Fortnite’s crew membership, has also been heavily criticized. The announcement was met with plenty of boos at the event and things are already getting pretty heated on Reddit.
The first R6 membership content will be released on June 28. Siege players who sign up between June 11 and June 18 will also receive an early adopter bonus in the form of an Epic Ash Pack and 600 R6 Credits.
In this video, Ubisoft gives you an overview of what is planned for Year 9 of Rainbow Six: Siege.
