Rainbow Six: Siege has been a well-known brand in the shooter genre and e-sports for years. Ubisoft, the studio behind the tactical shooter, regularly updates the game with new content, updates, and more. However, the latest idea is not being well received: a subscription.
What is this feature?
- The “R6 Membership” is a new subscription model for Rainbow Six: Siege. For €10 a month or €80 a year, you will receive special content (via Ubisoft).
- For example, there will be exclusive skins available only through the subscription every month. Additionally, there is the Battle Pass with 10 tier jumps and Bravo Packs.
- The system is quite similar to the Fortnite Crew subscription, which has been around since 2020. However, Ubisoft’s idea is being received much worse.
How the subscription is received: Ubisoft first introduced the R6 Membership at the Manchester Major. As soon as the information about the subscription was mentioned, there were loud boos from the entire audience (via TikTok).
The 25-minute video on YouTube, which introduces the subscription among other things, has only about 9,000 upvotes but over 22,000 downvotes – visible with an add-on (as of May 28).
The fact that Ubisoft introduced a subscription here and did not bring a new operator or a new map is not going down well at all. Instead, the new season brings a rework of Recruit, the “starter operator”.
Ubisoft actually made a strong start with Year 9, which is now being squandered:
“Jynxzi brought Rainbow Six back, only for Ubisoft to kill it again”
On TikTok and Reddit, feelings are a bit heated. It is stated there that streamer Jynxzi has finally made Rainbow Six great again after years, only for Ubisoft to kill it right away.
As recently as March 2024, Rainbow Six: Siege set a new record on Steam: 200,476 players simultaneously, which is the highest peak on the platform since its release (via steamcharts).
There are also comparisons to the Fortnite Crew subscription. The announcement there was hardly criticized, there was no real uproar, and for some, the Crew subscription is even considered quite a good deal. The difference is said to be: Fortnite is free, while Rainbow Six you have already paid for.
For Ubisoft, this is the third blunder in a short period. There was already a big outcry with Star Wars: Outlaws. Here, you need an internet connection even with a disc, and the cost has shaken many fans: You were supposed to pay up to €130 for the most expensive version.
Shortly after, the announcement of Assassin’s Creed: Shadows caused upset. There is also a certain online requirement here, although not as much as initially feared. The bigger problem from the fans’ perspective is the characters and the price, both are under criticism: Asmongold believes that Ubisoft wants to distract from the horrendous price with the new character in Assassin’s Creed
