Ubisoft Montreal Discusses the Past, Present, and Future of Rainbow Six Siege X

While attending Gamescom Asia x Thailand Game Show successful Bangkok this week, IGN was fixed the accidental to beryllium down with Rainbow Six Siege X’s originative manager Alexander Karpazis to speech astir however overmuch the tactical live-service shooter has evolved successful the 10 years since its motorboat successful 2015, wherever it mightiness spell next, the anticipation of a run mode and Switch 2 port, the usage of generative AI successful development, and more. Read connected for our afloat chat below!

Alexander Karpazis, Creative Director of Rainbow Six Siege X.

IGN: 10 years is simply a large accomplishment for a unrecorded work game, peculiarly since we’ve seen truthful galore others travel and spell successful that time. What bash you enactment the longevity of Siege down to?

Alexander Karpazis [AK]: I deliberation 1 of the large points is conscionable the sheer extent of the game. Like adjacent wrong 10 years, I don't deliberation you'll beryllium capable to maestro a crippled similar Siege and arsenic a gamer that's incredibly rewarding. It means that you're connected a travel to learn, maestro and observe caller things with a crippled that's ever changing. And I deliberation due to the fact that of that, it's conscionable grown and resonates with truthful galore people.

IGN: Has Siege evolved successful ways that you could person ne'er predicted astatine launch?

AK: Yeah, absolutely. I mean if you look astatine 2015 erstwhile the crippled archetypal launched, the Bomb crippled mode wasn't the fig 1 crippled mode. It was divided betwixt Hostage and Secure Area and Bomb. Back past eSports was thing that was precise grassroots and new, and present it's go this full ecosystem wherever radical marque their livelihoods disconnected of it, and that's thing we could person ne'er anticipated erstwhile it archetypal launched. And truthful successful these absorbing ways it's built up to beryllium thing that is truly important and humbling to beryllium a portion of.

IGN: You’ve antecedently said that Siege X is mounting the array for the adjacent 10 years. Do you instrumentality it 1 twelvemonth astatine a time? How overmuch of a roadworthy representation is determination for the future? Are determination 10 much years worthy of ideas successful the bank?

AK: When it comes to ideas, we really sat down and we interviewed the full squad astir their ideas for the game, and came up with implicit 40 pages of concepts that the squad inactive wants to propulsion for. So determination is nary extremity successful show erstwhile it comes to what we privation to bash with the game, and it's a equilibrium of abbreviated word and agelong term. We're looking astatine the seasons up of america but besides due to the fact that of Siege X, we're looking astatine anticipating caller technology, caller platforms, worldly that's going to travel retired and it's going to impact the game. And truthful however tin we expect that excessively implicit a longer agelong of time.

IGN: Hitting a 10-year milestone, does that summation the unit connected your squad for the future, oregon bash you consciousness similar you’ve mastered it present and you cognize what you’re doing?

AK: We're ever learning and we'll ne'er halt learning. There's truthful overmuch that goes into gathering a crippled similar this, and it truly comes down to listening to the community. They'll ever beryllium vocal successful what they privation to spot and however things alteration and truthful yeah, it's not a substance of mastering wherever we are close now. It's being comfy and knowing that we inactive person to perceive to our community, we inactive person to adapt, and we inactive person to innovate arsenic well. Maybe we're getting a small spot much comfy successful being uncomfortable, and that's however we support connected rolling the adjacent 10 years.

IGN: On the taxable of listening to the community, however overmuch of a situation is it to equilibrium your team’s imaginativeness for Siege X with the wants, needs, and complaints of the players?

AK: It is simply a challenge, and it isn't. Firstly, due to the fact that this game's been astir for truthful agelong I deliberation the DNA is precise good understood by players, caller and aged actually. They cognize it's a tactical crippled that has a batch of unsocial elements similar destruction, similar asymmetric attacker-defender characteristics. But it does mean that players bash privation to spot change, and much of it much often, and that's wherever we person to expect better, accommodate adjacent faster. And successful a way, that's sustainable, right? We are humans astatine the extremity of the day, the dev squad is precise quality arsenic well, and we privation to promote thing that tin past different 10 years and not lone absorption connected the abbreviated term.

IGN: What interaction volition Ubisoft’s instauration of the Vantage Studios subsidiary person connected you guys? How bash you consciousness astir it, and volition it person immoderate noticeable interaction connected the players?

AK: So erstwhile it comes to the subordinate perspective, Vantage Studios is not player-facing truthful it won't beryllium thing that's noticeable for players successful the day-to-day oregon adjacent agelong term. And adjacent connected the task we're not seeing immoderate large changes, the absorption is inactive connected making definite that Siege grows, that it's invested in, and truthful that's thing that we tin corroborate today. And it means that again, we're inactive precise excited astir the future. So it doesn't really alteration thing for america close now.

IGN: When Siege X launched successful June, it surged connected Steam to astir 150,000 concurrent players. Now it appears to beryllium hovering astir 40,000. Is that benignant of drop-off a concern?

AK: Firstly, the players coming to the game, particularly similar a grounds fig of caller players checking retired Siege X? It’s ever awesome and it’s precisely what we had hoped for. And past yeah, there's ever a spot of a process afterwards, particularly arsenic the squad was besides benignant of recovering from launching thing arsenic monolithic arsenic Siege X. There are ebbs and flows, and a batch of it's expected.

So for us, we're truly blessed with the game. We're blessed with wherever it's going. We person the Munich Majors successful November wherever we'll beryllium sharing adjacent much astir wherever it's going next. And again, excited to spot players proceed to articulation Siege and turn from there.

IGN: Is it a akin inclination connected consoles?

AK: Yeah, it is. PC and consoles stock the aforesaid subordinate habits that we spot each the time.

IGN: At this stage, bash you consciousness similar switching to free-to-play was the close happening to do, oregon is it excessively soon to tell?

AK: For us, we're seeing the benefits already. We person much caller players joining the crippled than ever earlier since launch, and that's precisely what we’d hoped for. We're seeing a caller procreation of Siege players arsenic well, which again is truly large adjacent arsenic we effort to equilibrium the needs of caller players and besides seasoned players. It is hitting the mark.

IGN: You’ve got truthful galore characters and 10 years’ worthy of lore built into the crippled now. Have you astatine slightest entertained the thought of a run mode? Rainbow Six Vegas had specified an awesome co-op campaign.

AK: It’s perfectly portion of the practice and yes, it is thing that our players inquire about. All I tin accidental close present is we're inactive truly focused connected the PvP aspect. We person been playing astir with storytelling wrong PvP, and we had an lawsuit called Assault connected Hereford that players truly loved, that did physique connected what our characters are doing, the code of the game, and we volition proceed to research that realm. But yeah, we person thing to denote close now.

IGN: What’s your stance connected the usage of generative AI successful games development, bash you person plans to usage it for Siege?

AK: If we conscionable speech astir AI astatine its core, it's thing we've ever been using, similar machine-learning, processing caller tools not lone for anti-cheat but for things similar our AI bots, wherever they're really trained connected our existent subordinate data. So these are each unthinkable tools that marque america faster and much efficient. And truthful it's not a caller concept.

However, erstwhile it comes to generative AI, this is worldly that's inactive truly caller and truthful we haven't incorporated it into our pipeline of Siege.

IGN: What's the instrumentality effect been similar to the Dual Front mode? I cognize a batch of players were of the sentiment that the District representation was a spot excessively large astatine launch, are you reevaluating that?

AK: Yeah, determination was a batch of feedback connected the caller mode particularly erstwhile you're comparing it to veterans and caller players. We spot caller players truly jumping successful much often than veterans, which is great. It's thing that we hoped for. But determination are inactive ways to amended it.

So we volition beryllium taking immoderate clip to marque immoderate bigger changes to the crippled mode that we’ll beryllium truly excited to stock for Year 11 - Season One. So astatine the commencement of adjacent year. We'll support connected shaking things up and seeing if we tin get much bully feedback connected it too.

It's decidedly thing that we privation to basal isolated from halfway Siege. Core Siege is precise overmuch competitive. The main gully is Ranked wherever it has this benignant of competitory progression. Dual Front is inactive the spot wherever we privation to springiness each of the sandbox ingredients that you person successful Siege successful a much escaped signifier truthful you tin play astir with each of it, mixing attackers and defenders, mixing antithetic kinds of strategies to onslaught and support too. That's wherever it truly shines. So making definite Dual Front is answering a intelligibly antithetic request than Core is thing that we're focused on.

IGN: We’ve seen Star Wars Outlaws travel to Nintendo Switch 2, and Assassin’s Creed Shadows is rumoured to beryllium connected its mode too. Is Rainbow Six Siege 2 apt to beryllium next?

AK: For america the absorption volition ever beryllium connected the platforms we’re connected close now, making definite that it's the champion acquisition and erstwhile we bash caller gameplay [that] it makes usage of the platforms that we're on. So close now, immoderate caller level isn't needfully a absorption for us. But again, we're a unrecorded game, it's 10 years. I learnt a agelong clip agone to ne'er accidental never, truthful we'll spot arsenic platforms turn and caller opportunities travel up too.

IGN: Finally, bash you person thing peculiar planned for the 10-year anniversary?

AK: We’ve spoken a small spot astir it and we'll stock adjacent much astatine the Munich Majors, but our program is perfectly to observe this large milestone with our players. We person a large lawsuit planned for in-game. We person rewards that we person planned for our players arsenic well. So yeah, we'll perfectly beryllium taking vantage of this large infinitesimal and celebrating it with everyone.

IGN: Looking guardant to seeing what you person successful store. Thanks for your time.

AK: Thank you truthful much.

Tristan Ogilvie is simply a elder video exertion astatine IGN's Sydney office. He travelled to Bangkok arsenic a impermanent of Gamescom Asia.