Rainbow Six Siege players aren’t happy after Ubisoft announced the game’s next event, “Outbreak,” will include character items that can only be found in special new loot boxes. As you might imagine, longtime players are not thrilled.
[Update - 1:30pm 1/27/18] In response to the backlash, Ubisoft will keep the $40 Standard Edition of Rainbow Six: Siege in place, a representative of the publisher announced on the game’s subreddit. However, this doesn’t address concerns over the new cash-only loot boxes being introduced to the game in the upcoming Outbreak event.
Original story follows.
Outbreak, arriving this spring, is a four week event that revolves around players trying to free civilians from an area suffering a mysterious infestation (probably zombies). A lot of the fun of Rainbow Six Siege comes from running around as your preferred operator spec-ed out in cool looking, cosmetic-only, gear. Outbreak will bring more of this, but inside loot boxes called Outbreak Packs, which will contain a total of 50 unique new items. Each pack costs 300 R6 Credits or $2.50, and Ubisoft says players won’t receive dupes. So if you buy 50 packs, you’re guaranteed to have everything.
In the blog post yesterday explaining how loot boxes will work, Ubisoft also said that it is changing the way it sells Siege. The game’s standard $40 edition is being removed from the market, replaced with a $60 Advanced Edition that includes 600 R6 Credits and 10 Outbreak Packs (valued at $30 total). If you want to spend more money, a $90 edition will include all of this plus the Year 3 pass, while a $120 Complete Edition will include Year 1 and 2 content as well.
The pricing shift, and the $10 savings that new players are getting on the Outbreak Packs and in-game credits, have the diehard fans who’ve been playing Siege for the last two years feeling a little left out.
“I’ve bought every Year Pass, I’ve spent at least $150 on Siege Points, and I’ve played over 400 hours,” wrote Liquid7778 on the game’s subreddit. “I find out today that in your Outbreak Event, you’re releasing Outbreak Packs that can only be obtained through spending real world money on virtual currency. Not only that, but the people who are buying your newly $60 game are going to be receiving 10 more of those packs, than someone like me who has been there every step of the way, giving you money, supporting your game, letting everybody and their mother know that Siege is the game to play and you need to buy it now. That’s terrible. I feel truly cheated as a customer and as a supporter of your game.”
That sentiment was widely shared enough to make the pricing changs and new Outbreak loot boxes the topic du jour throughout the game’s community, with lots of other people chiming in to convey similar feelings.
When Rainbow Six Siege first released, it was swamped with complaints about its grindy progression that could only be reduced through microtransaction payments in addition to what people had already paid for the full-priced game. Ubisoft was able to right the ship and slowly build up goodwill among the game’s player base by reducing grind and continually adding new content that could be unlocked with season passes. Time will tell if this will require corrective action, as well.