Improving Rainbow Six Siege doesn’t stop at Operation Health

Rainbow Six Siege is by no means a perfect shooter, but Ubisoft’s dedication to improving the game has been the perfect response to an otherwise relatively flawed and initially troubled game. Since Operation Health has come to an end, the developer ensures players that Siege is here to stay and will continue to strive for 100 Operators, if not more.

There have been many bumps in the road for Siege players, jumping into a game that was rife with bugs and exploits, with no shortage of mischievous people willing to use them. I, myself, play alongside plenty of people who love to push the game to its limits at the expense of other players let alone against them.

Ubisoft implemented Operation Health to minimalise these and bring balance to a game that truly stands out in modern first-person shooters for its slow paced, tactical approach. Now, at the launch of Year 2, Season 3’s Operation Blood Orchid as well as the game’s two-year anniversary, Ubisoft’s Alexandre Remy reflects on Siege in an interview with PC Gamer.

“I totally get what those mixed feelings, receptions and reviews about the game came from—they were within reason,” confesses Remy. “[Regarding] matchmaking, it was maybe not on par with what it is today. In short: the reception of the game we launched in 2015 was deserved.”

With all of the effort that Ubisoft has put into remodelling both the game and the publisher’s approach to DLC, Siege has bumped up its player count tremendously. This DLC model has been so successful as of late, that it’s actually been adopted in other games such as EA’s Titanfall 2 and upcoming Star Wars Battlefront 2.

“A year and a half on and we are in a very different place. The game has grown two to three times, we hit 20 million unique players a couple of weeks ago, we have to everyday 2.5 million players that are playing—so it's in a very different place now. The game is like a good bottle of Bordeaux, which is to say if you let it age a little longer it should get better.”

Looking ahead to the game’s future, Remy is comfortable to move forward given its popularity. Originally, plans were announced that development would lead to as many as 50 to 100 Operators but according to Remy, “There’s no reason for us to stop there.” So long as there is a demand, Ubisoft will continue to provide.

The developer is keen to keep that demand alive, and not by cheap means. It sees Siege as an eSport and therefore will always get the attention required to keep the game balanced and whole.

KitGuru Says: I am a huge fan of Siege and I’m enjoying the Blood Orchid update aside from Bandit having his ACOG removed. I have yet to try out the new Operators (thanks team), but that’s mainly because I wish to play out my first 10 ranked matches with Ops I’m familiar with. How are you finding the new season? Do you like Ela, Lesion and Ying?

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