Rainbow Six: Siege has reached a new peak player count on Steam in March 2024. We took a look at what suddenly makes Ubisoft’s shooter so popular.
Rainbow Six: Siege (short: R6S) is a tactical shooter from Ubisoft that was released in December 2015 – more than 8 years ago. Since then, the title has received numerous new maps and operators with unique abilities and new weapons through regularly released seasons.
On March 17, 2024, Rainbow Six: Siege set a new record on Steam with 200,000 concurrent players for the first time. The previous record dated back to March 2020 at 198,567 players. Just in December 2023, the player peak was only 59,600 (via SteamCharts).
But how does it come that Rainbow Six: Siege is suddenly so popular again? MeinMMO editor Dariusz Müller, with thousands of hours of playtime, takes a look at the recent developments of the shooter and shows what might have led to this upsurge.
Fresh Breeze through New Content and Overhauls
Last Tuesday, March 12, the new season “Deadly Omen” started. There is a new playable operator named Deimos, a few balancing updates, overhauls, and a whole range of “quality of life” improvements.
New seasons often bring a fresh breeze and at least a temporary upsurge in player counts on Steam in R6S. This time, especially some changes that were long overdue have occurred.
The defender Azami has finally been slightly nerfed. She had been considered one of the strongest operators in the game for months and had too great an impact on the outcome of a round. Additionally, there is now a “Locker” where you can, for example, sort or filter your skins and charms.
Ubisoft Built Up the Release of the New Operator a Year in Advance
Each year, when the finals of the Six Invitationals – the big world championship of R6S – are approaching, Ubisoft presents further plans for the shooter. For some time now, there has also been a cinematic trailer shown again and again. However, these trailers do not showcase new content for the game, but tell short stories and display action and shootouts between the characters of the game.
The cinematic trailer from 2023 introduced a villain who not only set a trap for well-known operators like Thermite, Zofia, and Sledge, but also killed the team leader Harry in his office with a revolver.
This villain was Deimos, the new operator. Deimos accused Harry of dishonoring his unit, Team Rainbow. In the cinematic trailer for Year 9, which was shown in February 2024, Deimos reappears and engages in a fierce battle with operators like Doc, Zero aka Sam Fisher, and Mira. The team managed to capture Deimos alive, and now he is in the game as a new operator – including a revolver that plays a crucial role in his ability.
A Lot of Attention and a Free Test
This time, there was also a Free Weekend running until March 21 and a marketing campaign with numerous streamers playing the game – even if they are not typically found in R6S. In the German sector, for example, it was streamed by DoktorFroid, aSmoogle, and JenNyan.
Furthermore, Jynxzi continues to be the big banner carrier for the game. The American became the number 1 on Twitch with R6S and has been among the largest Twitch streamers in the world for months. Recently, he has also been doing joint projects with other big streamers like shooter legend shroud, who also recently returned to the game and streamed it.
The Perfect Time to Start or Return
Rainbow Six: Siege is currently more beginner-friendly than ever before. Ubisoft has been working for years to bring new content aimed primarily at making it easier for new players to start.
In the past, the shooting range and tutorials were introduced to the game. In addition, there are operator guides, a map training, and matches against AI that are intended to replace the terrorist hunts and better convey the game mechanics.
This season also introduced a display that represents the trajectory of objects. Thus, it is possible to throw grenades or Nitro cells through a narrow gap even without much practice. Overall, the game has never had so many features to facilitate entry.
The Popular ACOG Sight Returns to Many Operators
In the past, Ubisoft removed certain sights from various operators as part of a balancing update. Particularly, the ACOG sight, which offers a 2.5x zoom, was removed from some characters.
With the current season, the sights have been redistributed. The 1.5 scope received a 2.5x zoom, as it was too strong as 1.5. It was the ultimate all-rounder for short and long distances, and operators who had access to the sight were played more often.
Now all operators who had the 1.5 scope have the option to equip the 2.5 sights – including the ACOG. In this redistribution, the attacker Ash also got the ACOG sight back for her assault rifle, the R4C.
Ash has been one of the most popular operators since the release of the shooter and is often chosen as an entry fragger. Especially during the time when Ash had the ACOG on the R4C, she was indispensable in any competitive lineup. This could have been a reason for some former R6S players to temporarily return at the start of the season.
Additionally, Rainbow Six: Siege 2024 received a marketplace where players can trade and sell skins to each other. This has also been well received by many veterans, as they can now either complete their collection or profitably get rid of valuable skins.
Read more about the marketplace in Rainbow Six: Siege here: A popular shooter now has the feature that Counter-Strike has been profiting from on Steam for years
