Having been out for more than four years now, it isn't outlandish to wonder when Rainbow Six Siege might be making the move to free-to-play. According to game director Leroy Athanassoff, it's a move he and his team have been wanting too.
Speaking to PC Gamer, Athanassoff explained that the decision to move towards free-to-play isn't up to the development team, with numerous business decisions standing in the way. Athanassoff wants the game to be accessible to as many players as possible, but also points out how that brings with it new challenges.
You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos.
Click To Unmute
Thompson: The Pop Culture Icon’s Strange Legacy - Loadout
Firearms Expert’s FAVORITE Weapons Of 2023State Of Gaming Handhelds In 2023How Lies of P Cracked the Souls GenreLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Ichiban Kasuga Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Chitose Fujinomiya Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Saeko Mukoda Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Eric Tomizawa Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Kazuma Kiryu Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Seonhee Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Koichi Adachi Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Yu Nanba Character Spotlight Trailer
Share
LinkEmbed
Size:640 × 360480 × 270
Start at: End at: Autoplay Loop
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
Sign up or Sign in now!
Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.
This video has an invalid file format.
00:00:00
HTML5
Auto HD High Low
Report a problem
Sorry, but you can't access this content!
By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's
Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
enter
Now Playing: Critiquing Rainbow Six Siege While Trying To Play It
It's not as simple as changing the price, says Athanassoff, with many features required to combat abusive player behavior when a game is freely open to everyone. Smurf accounts (a practice where high-skill players will create new accounts to play with lower level ones) are a huge concern, and it's the biggest hurdle Athanassoff says his team needs to overcome before considering free-to-play.
“What’s important for us is that we find out as soon as possible that a player is highly skilled in the things that matter,” he said. “The problem right now is that you can play a certain amount of matches with Copper players while you’re a Diamond.”
Athanassoff notes that right now Siege isn't doing enough to detect instances of smurfing already, with the MMR scoring system only focusing on a player's win rate. In the future it will need to take more data into account (such as kill/death ratios and accuracy metrics) to better identify when a player is trying to cheat the system.
These aren't unique problems to Rainbow Six Siege, with most large multiplayer games having to implement their own solutions to the same problem. Dota 2, for example, requires a phone number to unlock ranked play (a feature Siege already has too), while both Overwatch and Fortnite regularly ban players using smurf accounts.
Rainbow Six Siege News
Rainbow Six Siege Y5S3 Pre-Season Designer Notes Detail How Thatcher Is Being Nerfed Rainbow Six Siege: Sam Fisher, Shadow Legacy Update Revealed Splinter Cell's Sam Fisher Is Rainbow Six Siege's Next Operator + Show More Rainbow Six Siege News Links (2) Rainbow Six Siege Patch Y5S2.3 Live Now Rainbow Six Siege Mute Protocol Event Is Live