Is Rainbow Six Siege Going Free-To-Play?
There’ve been numerous ramblings about Rainbow Six Siege going free to play, but a recent episode of IGN’s Unlocked podcast could be the most credible yet. In particular, right around the 51-minute mark, the podcast moves on to discuss Rainbow Six Siege. Then, just a few minutes later, at around the 57-minute mark, IGN Editorial Producer, Destin Legarie, talks about how Rainbow Six Siege, among other titles, could go free-to-play on Xbox platforms. In case you missed it, Microsoft is currently testing the removal of the Xbox Live Gold requirement in free-to-play multiplayer games. This means that players without active Xbox Live Gold subscriptions will finally get to access online multiplayer features on their Xbox console. At the moment, the feature is not yet public. It’s exclusive only to Xbox Insiders part of the Alpha Skip Ahead and Alpha programs. With that said, it does make a lot of sense for Ubisoft to try and expand the reach of Rainbow Six Siege now that it’s going on its sixth year. Not to mention, they’ve already laid the foundation for it. In recent months, Ubisoft has added more paid cosmetics than before. This suggests that they’re preparing to monetize the game via microtransactions and in-game purchases. Of course, if Ubisoft does indeed make Rainbow Six Siege free-to-play, it doesn’t make sense to do it only for the Xbox. If it indeed happens, Rainbow Six Siege will likely become free-to-play on all available platforms.
What’s Next for Rainbow Six Siege?
The Rainbow Six Siege Y6S1 update was recently added to the game. This brought an entirely new map and operator, as well as a slew of balance updates, reworks, and map changes. However, it’s only the first of many updates expected to come to Rainbow Six Siege in 2021. With Rainbow Six Parasite expected to launch soon, making Rainbow Six Siege free-to-play could be the right move. Instead of making Rainbow Six Parasite a free-to-play title at launch, Ubisoft could instead do it to Rainbow Six Siege. They could even bring back Outbreak to try and generate hype for Rainbow Six Parasite. This way, they can do something similar to what EA did with Apex Legends and Activision did with Warzone. Lest we forget, both AAA titles had a lot of commercial success at launch and continue to draw in the numbers despite not relying on traditional marketing tactics. Of course, this is all speculation at this point. Until Ubisoft confirms the news themselves, we suggest you take everything we just said with a grain of salt.
