Update: January 27: Ubisoft has partially backed down from their plans to replace the Regular $40 edition of Rainbow Six Siege with a $60 pack including ten cosmetic loot boxes.
Announced via the Rainbow Six Siege Reddit, Ubisoft is partially backing down from its new pricing plans on the competitive FPS. For the foreseeable future, the $40 Standard edition of the game will remain available, although other bundles will still see price hikes, including a stunning $40 increase on the Complete edition, bringing it up to a $130.
By way of apology for whipping up so much anger among its players, anyone who logs in and plays a match online between now and March 6th will recieve the Sidewinder Elite skin for Ash, free. Not much, but it’s something.
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In that same statement, Ubisoft has also hinted that they have some manner of system planned to upgrade Starter edition players (who found themselves with a permanently currency-throttled account) to something more on par with Regular players, but this won’t be announced until the next Invitational tournament kicks off.
The trouble began on January 25, when, ahead of the start of year three,Ubisoft announcedsome changes to how various editions of the game will be available in 2018, as well as how the upcoming Outbreak mode will be monetized. Outbreak Packs are a new paid loot box system that offers cosmetic items and promises no duplicates.
The Starter Edition would continue to be offered much as it always has, at a discounted price that slows your progression toward toward unlocking Rainbow Six Siege’s new operators. But the Standard Edition has been replaced by a more expensive Advanced Edition, and will include 10 Outbreak Collection Packs – more on that below. The Gold Edition would include the Year 3 pass, and the Complete Edition will naturally be updated to include all three years worth of content. These changes were to be implemented on February 13.
Outbreak Packs are a new loot box-style item to be implemented as part of the upcoming four week event. These will be purchased with 300 R6 Credits – the real-money currency – and each will randomly give you one of the 50 items that are part of the Outbreak Collection. These items are cosmetic only, and you won’t receive any duplicates. Ubisoft promises that if you get 50 packs, you will have all 50 items. It also says “a few other Outbreak rewards will be available through game play, and will be awarded based on other criteria to be disclosed at a later date.”
These cosmetics are all hazmat-themed, including universal and unique weapon skins, headgear, uniforms, and charms. You’ll also be able to get a unique version of the season’s Elite Uniform. All these items will be categorized as either Rare, Epic, or Legendary, and there won’t be any overlap with the existing Alpha Packs. You’ll receive four free Outbreak Packs for logging in during the event.
Outbreak takes place in a New Mexico town, where players will be tasked with some sort of mysterious infestation. It wasn’t technically characterised as a zombies mode by Ubisoft, but it’s totally a zombies mode, especially given the latest hints from theRainbow Leaks ARG. Outbreak launched alongside the Year 3 Season 1 title update.
Long-term Rainbow Six Siege players aren’t happy with the changes to cosmetics and the game’s reward system. A look at the front page of the game’s subreddit shows several players displeased with Ubisoft’s decision.
Former pro-player and streamerz1ronic, however, has a different take on proceedings, suggesting that Ubisoft is right to offer a new, easy-entry version of the game to new players, to help the game, and the competitive scene, grow.
to get the game as big as possible, both casual and esport – there has to be a "easy" entery – so you can jump in and compete FAST!
charge as much as you want for skins, but not for game entry.
my former tweet ppl couldnt seem to tell the diffrence between skins and game
— z1ronic (@zironicdk) January 26, 2018
Many of those players unimpressed with the changes seem to be disappointed in Ubisoft’s decision to give more free cosmetic packs to new players (for whom the game will cost $60) than to players who have already purchased the game (current price $40). Other players are more set against the development of microtransactions as a whole.