Ubisoft’s announcement of a monthly subscription for Rainbow Six Siege has not gone over well with fans, with some even booing the announcement at the official esports event where it was revealed.
Details about the game’s upcoming season, and $10 a month subscription, were revealed as part of the Rainbow Six Siege Manchester Major this past weekend. The R6 Membership is a separate purchase from each season’s battle pass, though it does grant access to it alongside exclusive monthly rewards, battle pass tier skips, character skins, R6 Credits, and Bravo Packs (Rainbow Six’s version of loot boxes). The subscription service will launch in June. Those who buy an annual membership for $80 will save around $40 when compared to paying for the subscription month-to-month.
The announcement didn’t exactly draw cheers from fans, both at the event and online. Instead, videos recorded during the reveal show the crowd loudly booing the subscription reveal, like one from Reddit user I-Am-Bodge. Other fans lamented that the idea for yet another way to monetize the game’s players likely came from higher-ups at Ubisoft.
“R6S devs really be having a good day and then shareholders shoved this idea for a purely money-making scheme down their throats,” user The_Honkai_Scholar said.
Rainbow Six Siege isn’t the first game as a service to receive an optional membership subscription, with the biggest comparison being Fortnite and its Crew membership (although other games, like GTA Online, also have memberships). The main complaint from players seems to be that unlike Fortnite, Rainbow Six Siege isn’t free-to-play, and is already heavily monetized with skins, loot boxes, and a seasonal battle pass.
Other fans have pointed out how the membership’s announcement comes during a relatively content-lite year so far. Alongside the rollout of the membership, Rainbow Six Siege’s upcoming year 9 season 2, Operation New Blood, will primarily rework the game’s default Recruit operator (who in a major change, will only be usable by one player per team). The game is slated to receive two new operators by year’s end.
Rainbow Six Siege is approaching 10 years old, but is still going strong after nearly a decade. Back in March, the game saw its highest number of concurrent players on Steam yet.
