Almost an entire decade has passed since the launch of Rainbow Six Siege, which means it is now a far cry from the game it once was. Those who started Rainbow Six Siege in the first year of its launch and have, either consistently or sporadically, remained faithful to the game over the years likely know just how differently it plays now compared to how it used to play. However, that is all about to change when Rainbow Six Siege X launches in June, as it aims to usher in a brand-new era for one of the best tactical shooters out there.
Game Rant was recently invited to the Rainbow Six Siege X showcase in Atlanta, Georgia, where we spent some time previewing the new Dual Front mode, modernized maps, and the various gameplay features coming to the game as it moves into its next era. While there, we also interviewed Rainbow Six Siege X game director Joshua Mills about the major update coming to the game, including what inspired its development, what players can expect to see in the game with the launch of Siege X, and what Ubisoft’s goal is moving forward with Rainbow Six Siege as a whole. The following transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.
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The Why Now and Future of Rainbow Six Siege X
Q: What inspired the development of Siege X?
A: Siege X comes down to the idea of setting up the foundation for the next 10 years, and that’s really what it is. We wanted to do a big update, to go in and do core changes to our engine — that’s why the lighting’s rebuilt — and to be able to set ourselves up in kind of like future-proofing to a certain degree for where we’re going to go.
Q: And then what about the new Dual Front game mode?
A: Dual Front is part of that because we wanted to find a way to make Siege a little more approachable so that people could get in and fall in love with the magic that we all know is there. It’s a little difficult to do that when you jump into a 5v5, and you get spawn peaked immediately, and then you sit there for two minutes doing nothing. So, it was like, all right, let’s see what we can do to introduce people to the actual magic of what the strategies are in Rainbow Six Siege. It’s a hard thing for newcomers and casuals to jump into a lobby with 10-year players in it and just be like, “Okay, I don’t know what I’m doing. Oh, that guy shot me through like three walls, right, right.”
Q: So, you talked about how Siege X, the purpose of it is to set up Rainbow Six Siege for the next 10 years. How exactly does Siege X fit into the long-term vision for Rainbow Six Siege‘s future?
A: There are actually a lot of parts to that. So, one is big tech updates. This is why we switched to DirectX 12 API — it’s opened up different possibilities there, the new lighting system, new audio system. These are big core changes that change the way the game works and plays but also change the way in which we can further develop the game. So, that’s part of it.
We’ll be updating our different playlists and stuff like this again to serve our community but also open up all the different channels on how we can actually deliver content. Ultimately, being able to do that sort of stuff opens up the next step of expanding the core of Siege with these destructible ingredients. These are experiments and the ideas of going, well, how do we solidify what makes Siege so good and keep it fresh and new 10 years in?
Rainbow Six Siege Clubhouse modernized plays differently than it did because of these new ingredients going in and new lighting, making it moodier and changing the flow of combat. I think that last part is really about the overall tone — embracing the identity of Siege and making sure that it has that darker, grittier tone going forward has been something we’ve been working towards, and we really want to hit that home with the new visual overhaul.
Q: So, are you seeing the next 10 years as one big experiment?
A: I mean, ultimately, we grow with our community. I find that when we look at this game and look at what we can do next, this is a path that is not something that we have to stretch ourselves very far to think of what’s the next thing, because it comes very naturally. I’ll use those destructible ingredients as the kind of base for this, where when you play any game and when you play Siege, the question comes up of “What can I do?”
And the game has a lot of possibilities with like destructible walls, all the gadgets in Rainbow Six Siege, all the different interactions. But then the fact that I can shoot that fire extinguisher, set up a different flank, set up a different push, and I can do different interactions like this, the question then is like, “Well, what can I not do?” And then how do we enable that in the future and continue to go down that path?
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Rainbow Six Siege X’s Gameplay Design and Philosophy
Q: Have any of the operators been adjusted as far as balancing and tweaking goes?
A: We do have balancing changes that are going in fundamentally to set up a fresh start for everyone. That was one of the pushes we had for our balancing team was to ask the question of “When Siege X launches and everybody comes in, what’s that foundation going to look like?” So, let’s do all the digging we’re going to do, let’s make it happen then. That’s one part of it. And then we’ll continue to do our balancing updates as we’ve normally done going forward, but there is a bit of a push to have some stuff coming in on the launch of Siege X.
Q: And then, what is your design philosophy behind introducing the new modernized maps?
A: Doing the full pass. So, we’re using five modernized maps at the launch of Siege X and every season after that we’ll be taking three of our maps and modernizing them alongside that and going through the entire roster and just working our way through that. So, that does mean that the destructible ingredients, they’ll start showing up in more of the maps and all the visual overhauls and all the updated textures and everything like that. All that stuff’s going to be rolling out.
Veterans are going to have to change their strategies on the new maps. When we look at the power level of, say, destructible ingredients, we have primary gadgets, secondary gadgets, and then destructible ingredients. Because we never want the ingredients in the level to supersede what an operator can bring on the field. And that was kind of the adjustment there. They’re there for either saving utility or improvised moments because, honestly, you can have the best plan you want in Siege, but it doesn’t matter half the time because you’ve got to improvise.
Q: What was the philosophy behind the visual overhaul of the classic maps in Siege X?
A: Some of the updates that are actually happening, their core engine level updates will impact across the game, but there will be a bigger integration of those destructible ingredients, updated textures, and a different push on the modernized maps. The reason for doing this is to really fall in line with the tone that we want Siege to be, which is a little bit darker, a little bit grittier. It’s the thing you picture when you think of Rainbow Six Siege and tactical operators doing what they do.
So, really embracing that going forward, but not backstepping on all the lessons we learned over the last 10 years, which is readability, people being able to actually see people, people not hiding in a dark corner, or having the sun burn your retinas when you’re trying to look outside through a broken barricade or something like that. All those lessons are still being applied and all the tech that we’ve developed for different parts of that has been updated to work with our new stuff too.
Q: How have players responded to Siege X in testing and what feedback has been the most surprising for you?
A: The funniest part, whenever we showcased all this, we show all this crazy stuff and all the things, and then there’s weapon inspect, and that’s what always got the craziest cheers. I’m geeking out about momentum-based movements and advanced rappel and stuff, and they’re like, “Weapon inspect is the best thing!” And I get it.
There was also a moment when we were doing the roadshow. We had a bunch of people come over to Montreal, and when they were there, there was one feature we didn’t talk about. And we didn’t talk about it because we wanted to see if they would notice it. And I remember the first batch that they got into a bunch of the creators got on the roof of Clubhouse, and they started running down the air conditioners because someone felt the momentum-based movement change. And when they went, they saw it, and they climbed back up and then ran back down. And then all of them are just standing on the roof, running down the air conditioners because that system just changes the moment, and you feel it immediately.
It’s super hard to describe, but it’s one of those things where you put your hands on the controller or on the mouse and keyboard, and you jump in, you’re just like, “Oh, I get to do what I want to do actively and fluidly.” That was a nice one because, again, we didn’t tell them about it, we wanted to see if they’d notice it, and they just picked up on it right away.
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Q: So, what is one thing that you really want players, whether they’re newcomers or veterans, to get out of and take away from Siege X?
A: Honestly, we’re just getting started. Seriously, the investment we have as a team in this thing, a lot of us are players who have been around for a long time too. We care so much about continuing to make it grow and change it and evolve it. Actually, I’m just going to speak for myself. I want people to know that we’re not going anywhere. Rainbow doesn’t give up. We’re going to continue to make this awesome game even more awesome. A game that lasts for 10 years is because of the community behind it, and it’s in the DNA of this team to continue to serve them as best as possible.
Q: And you’re expecting it to grow after Siege X — the community.
A: I have no doubt because, again, we’re trying to make the game more approachable. There’s free access to Rainbow Six Siege X. There’s the new game mode and stuff like destructible ingredients. We want people to see the magic of the game. And I think that’s where we really are going to attract a lot of people, because for those who always felt Siege was too intimidating, now you can learn it, and now you can invest in it, and we’re investing in you, and we want to make people feel comfortable. Yes, the road to mastery is long, but you’re going to have time to get there because we’re not going anywhere.
Q: And that’s also why you’re really doubling down on making sure that it’s a healthy community, a positive community, and bringing the hammer down even more on toxicity.
A: Yeah, I mean, we’re a competitive game, and we expect people to be competitive. You know, a little bit of trash talk here and there is fine, but at the end of the day, nobody wants to be abused online. Nobody wants to deal with that. And that’s not the point. This is entertainment, and it’s something for us to enjoy and come together on, and that’s what we want.
[END]
- Released
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December 1, 2015
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood, Drug Reference, Strong Language, Violence