Rainbow Six: Siege pro, Niclas ‘Pengu’ Mouritzen has spoken out regarding the use of operator skins in professional tournaments. Pengu says that not only should skins not be used, but cosmetic items “ruin the competitive integrity” of the game.
Yesterday on Twitter, Pengu tweeted out his opinions (see the tweets embeded below) in response to fellow Rainbow Six competitor Daniel ‘Ferral’ Rotheram. Ferral stated skins should be banned from competitions, explaining that many of the skins blend too much with the environment. Players are not able to correctly identify which operator they’re up against during matches could lead to miscalling and the possibility of team kills.
Pengu quote tweeted Ferral’s argument and gave his opinion on skins, explaining that “fair play and consistency is SUPER important, and the current skin selection breaks that deeply, it’s rare that I recognize who I am killing/calling out.” He goes on to say that whilst he understands skins are used for sales, “they don’t have ANY place in comp play.”
Both Pengu and Ferral say Pro League skins are acceptable because their colourful designs don’t give players an advantage during matches.
I understand skins are for sales, but they dont have ANY place in comp play, it ruins the competitive integrity, Proleague skins are welcomed as they are 1 operator and its usually non beneficial colors as they are colorful and not bland & it is a part of the league itself
— G2 Pengu (@G2Pengu) July 8, 2019
The use of skins during tournaments is an ongoing discussion outside of Rainbow Six: Siege and in the wider world of esports. There are skin regulations in place for both League of Legends and Overwatch tournaments in an attempt to decrease competitive advantage.
Read more: Rainbow Six Siege new operators
A solution to this problem, that Pengu highlights, is that everyone who takes part in tournaments is given a default base skin creating a level playing field for matches.