The tactical shooter Rainbow Six: Siege has set a new record for the most simultaneous players on Steam – and it is already over four years old. It is more successful than many newer games, but how is that possible?
Rainbow Six: Siege is currently performing very well: On Steam, Rainbow Six: Siege attracted 180,463 players simultaneously (via Steam). It ranks 5th for the largest player peak, after CS:GO, Dota 2, PUBG and GTA V (as of February 24).
With this, Rainbow Six: Siege has reached the highest peak player count since its release in December 2015 on Steam (via steamcharts). On average, 97,119 players played it in the last 30 days. This also shows that the shooter, despite its age, is stronger than newer games.
Destiny 2 (2017) has a peak of 292,314 (at the release on Steam in October 2019), but only has an average player count of 61,323. Destiny 2 seems not to work well on Steam.
The new Steam hit Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem only boasts a peak of 127,542 players and an average of 23,783 players.
Wolcen is only a few days old and still has to establish itself; however, the numbers for Rainbow Six: Siege are also only based on Steam. Ubisoft also offers the game via its own launcher UPlay and for consoles, which boosts both values even further.
Rainbow Six: Service saturated
Why is Rainbow Six: Siege so successful? Since the release of Rainbow Six: Siege, Ubisoft has continually worked on the game. Every year, there have been four seasons with new content. Each season comes with a new operation and story that adds more depth to the game. In total, there have been:
- 10 new maps
- 32 new operators with unique skills
- 64 new weapons
- new features like “Give Up”, “Pick and Ban” and an observation mode
- several new gadgets, weapon attachments, and cosmetics
Many maps have been revised based on criticism, making it more enjoyable to play on them. In addition, there are recurring and special event modes with special maps and rules that usually offer a reward for all players when the community completes a task together.
The service is apparently paying off. Rainbow Six: Siege consistently delivers great quarterly figures for Ubisoft, which recently were so good, that the new Ghost Recon: Breakpoint was ignored. It is even said to be too successful for a sequel, so it is also set to appear on PS5.
The future of Rainbow Six: Siege
What’s next? In March 2020, Season 2 of Year 5 will be released with the new Operation: Void Edge. This will introduce the operators Iana and Oryx, an arcade playlist, an in-game event, and numerous reworks.
Moreover, many improvements for Year 5 are planned. For instance, Rainbow Six: Siege plans to adopt the popular ping system from Apex Legends. This will make communication easier and more pleasant.
Some bugs that have plagued players for ages will also be fixed – such as debris from wooden walls that obstructs the view.
In the future, fans of Rainbow Six can look forward to a coop game modeled after the Outbreak event of Siege, which is expected to be released in 2020 after being postponed:
