More people play Rainbow Six Siege than Call of Duty. Now there’s a statement most of us would never believe could come true. Yet, there it is.
Siege sits below only PUBG, Dota 2, and CS:GO on Steam. On Xbox One, only Fornite: Battle Royale is played more. And Ubisoft just wrapped up one hell of a tournament over the weekend. Twitch viewership was well north of 100,000 viewers every time I tuned in.
Siege found an audience right out of the gate. Fans of methodical, tactical shooters embraced the game’s excellent gameplay. But Ubisoft managed to do what most games fail at – continue growing.
As Year 3 support kicks off, Siege has never been more popular. Active players stand at 27 million according to Ubisoft, and peak player counts on Steam keep hitting new highs.
It’s been just over two years since Siege released. And it’s about that time most of us start wondering about a sequel. Ubisoft’s message at this weekend’s tournament could not have been more clear. “There is no sequel planned,” said brand director Alexander Remy. “We are here for the next 10 years, so expect more Rainbow Six in your life for quite some time.”
That means more operators (100 is the goal). “We’ve communicated already a couple of times that our vision for the game is to bring it to 100 operators,” said Remy.
More modes like the upcoming Outbreak co-op mode (available for a limited time).
And more updates (Xbox One X/PS4 Pro support at some point).
This is definitely on our road map! We do not have an ETA for it though.
I love that a game like Siege can be so popular. Gameplay doesn’t need to be dumbed down to appeal to a wider audience. It just needs to be excellent and offer something fresh.
The no sequel news is fantastic on the one hand, slightly disappointing on the other. I would love to see a single player campaign like classic Rainbow Six games, but with Siege’s gameplay and operator selection. Will that happen? Probably not. Ubisoft’s focus is on the multiplayer (rightly so) and co-op.
Siege is a hit because of what it is. I want a story and respawn modes, but Ubisoft knows its audience better than anyone. Tactical gameplay with a single life got them to 27 million players, and it will get them millions more.
