Rainbow Six Siege X is not quite a sequel but a ‘major evolution’ from Ubisoft

There might never be a Rainbow Six Siege 2 but the closest thing to it is happening soon, as Ubisoft reveal plans for the game’s next 10 years. Ubisoft’s plan to triple down on live service games feels a little misguided considering the year it’s just had. Skull And Bones didn’t make much of an impact after it finally launched, XDefiant got shut down in June, and we bet you forgot the company cancelled its planned The Division spin-off, Heartland.

Aside from entirely new projects, Ubisoft is also trying to breathe new life into one of the few successful live service game it already has: Rainbow Six Siege. That game has been going strong for 10 years and, much like Overwatch 2 and Counter-Strike 2, Rainbow Six Siege is now set to get its own sequel, that isn’t really a sequel at all. There were rumours of a Rainbow Six Siege 2 floating around earlier this month, with claims that it would be announced during the Six Invitational 2025 esports competition.

The invitational wrapped up over the weekend and during the proceedings, creative director Alex Karpazis and game director Joshua Mills took to the stage to confirm Rainbow Six Siege X is indeed a thing and will serve as the basis for the game for the next decade. However, Mills was keen to stress that Siege X isn’t a sequel nor ‘another update’, but a ‘major evolution,’ telling the crowd: ‘We’re expanding and reinforcing the very foundation of Siege to ensure it remains the pinnacle of tactical PvP first-person shooters.’.

Ubisoft didn’t have any footage to share, beyond a short and vague teaser, but Mills has said Siege X will bring ‘major graphical and audio upgrades, refined game feel, and new ways to enjoy the game, all while staying true to what makes the core of Siege so special.’. A major evolution is coming. 📍 Watch the R6 Siege X Showcase live – March 13th. 📺 Live Stream 🎟️ Attend in Atlanta pic.twitter.com/tjfENveHKd.

This seems to make it the inverse of Counter-Strike 2, which, despite the name, fans don’t really regard as a sequel. Ubisoft has previous said, including as recently as last year, that Siege would never get a sequel, so that’s why this isn’t referred to as one. ‘The idea of switching engines to something that can be off-the-shelf ready simply doesn’t answer the needs of a really competitive and demanding game like Siege,’ said Karpazis at the time (via PC Gamer).

‘I’m not going to name names, but you see games that did go through sequels and just completely drop the ball because they have to remake every single thing that they did in that first game,’ he added, no doubt alluding to Overwatch 2 and its messy post-launch life. Dataminer firaxiswinning, who accurately claimed Siege X would be announced at the recent competition, has claimed the project’s been in the works for the last few years.

If so, then this hasn’t been a spur of the moment decision born from Ubisoft’s lacklustre 2024 and the team will hopefully have learned the right lessons from the backlashes Overwatch 2 and Counter-Strike 2 saw. It’s not known when Siege X will actually arrive, but considering the current version of the game is getting a tenth year of content for 2025 (which is covered on Ubisoft’s website), it suggests Siege X won’t be out until 2026 at the earliest.

Either way, players won’t have to wait much longer for answers since a proper reveal is happening on March 13, during a special three hour long livestream. It’s too soon to tell if Siege X will prove to be the win Ubisoft needs, but it’s not the only basket the company’s putting all its eggs in. Ubisoft is similarly eager to keep pushing more open world games and no doubt has extremely high expectations for next month’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows and the rumoured Far Cry 7.

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