Ubisoft has mentioned how it’s bracing for the launch of Grand Theft Auto 6, and plans to reward Rainbow Six Siege gamers who stick round “like kings and queens.”
Regardless of nonetheless being a number of months away, the influence of GTA 6’s launch this November is already being felt all through the online game business, with different recreation publishers crowding their very own releases into September and early October with the intention to steer properly clear.
At the moment, no different writer (aside from Nintendo and its The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake) appears able to courageous November with a big-budget launch of their very own. However what about live-service video games which should hold going throughout the peak of GTA 6’s curiosity? Nicely, it is anticipated that they may doubtless see their very own numbers dip.
“We have a large launch coming with GTA,” acknowledged Joshua Mills, inventive director of Ubisoft’s long-lived Rainbow Six Siege, in dialog with The Game Business. Launched again in 2015, it continues to be loved by a devoted viewers right this moment — although even Mills admits that he expects many of those gamers to dip out and strive Rockstar’s blockbuster when it lastly arrives.
“It doesn’t matter what style you are in – you are going to take a success when that drops,” Mills continued. “Persons are going to play it, and then they’ll come again. Heck, all of us are going to play it. It is about being good together with your expectations so you’ll be able to hold the workforce and HQ aligned. If the workforce sees participant numbers dip, they will get anxious, however it’s typically non permanent.”
And for those that do stick round, it appears like Ubisoft’s workforce is planning among the best instances to play in years.
“Our golden rule is to serve the gamers who keep like kings and queens,” Mills concluded. “We do not go on trip simply because a competitor is swelling the market. We double down and reward these spending their helpful time with us. Funnily sufficient, Season 4 will drop proper round that point. That shifts up the sport in numerous methods. We even have some unannounced surprises held again to make a splash.”
It is an intriguing tactic: not intentionally ceding floor to GTA 6, even whereas acknowledging the inevitable curiosity within the recreation that may doubtless deflate Siege’s personal participant numbers — quickly, at the least. I will be fascinating to see what different live-service video games would possibly do, too.
Tom Phillips
Information Editor
Tom Phillips is IGN’s Information Editor. You may attain Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or discover him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social