Ubisoft recently unveiled a monthly subscription service called the “R6 Membership” for its long-running competitive tactical shooter, Rainbow 6 Siege. And as you probably guessed, it totally pissed off Siege fans.
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The announcement of the R6 membership coincided with the reveal of Operation New Blood on stage at Rainbow Six Siege’s BLAST R6 Major Manchester 2024 event. While the new operation received a lukewarm reception, the monthly subscription service clearly didn’t sit well with fans, with the announcement video being drowned out by boos from the live crowd at the LAN event (check out the TikTok live reaction video captured by Royza Gaming). The reception from the online community hasn’t been much different either.
The Rainbow Six Siege subreddit has since seen a flood of posts calling for a boycott of the R6 membership, which launches in June and will give subscribers exclusive content, animated skins, and premium battle pass access. “[This] absolutely came straight from the shareholders,” responded one player, who noted that it seemed like a cash grab. “[Rainbow Six Siege] devs are having a really good day and then shareholders shoved this idea down their throats for a purely money-making scheme.”
“It’s not going to do anything other than make them look bad and make the players very unhappy,” said another player. This appears to be the case, as the game’s Steam rating dropped from its original “Very Positive” 85 percent to a “Mostly Positive” 77 percent.