Rainbow Six Siege is undergoing an evolution in June, when Siege X releases for free worldwide. The next step in Siege’s journey will offer enhanced graphics and a new permanent mode, but there’s still quite a few questions that Esports fans have about the upcoming title.
At the Siege X reveal, Esports Illustrated sat down with Alexander Karpazis, Creative Director at Ubisoft, to learn more about the team’s goals in developing a fresh experience for Rainbow Six Siege players.
Dual Front will offer a completely fresh way to enjoy Siege. The respawn mechanic is a huge step outside of the shooter’s typical formula, but it’ll offer a great way for casual fans to transition into ranked play. When asked about esports potential in Dual Front, Alex said:
“Our hope is that players ask for Dual Front to be more competitive or more present in Esports. To us, that’s just a job well done. But we really want to wait until the community actually signals that, yes, this is it. For us right now, the most competitive experience is 5v5.”
For the foreseeable future, it appears that Dual Front will remain a casual game mode since it was designed with beginners in mind. Alex expects that new players will appreciate the ability to respawn, which is especially true if they’re transitioning from shooters like Call of Duty or Battlefield.
“Respawn is huge, especially because Siege is a game of learning. If you get another chance to learn from your mistake immediately, then that’s great. You also have operator repick, so if you’re playing one operator and it’s not clicking, you can actually swap live and try something else. I think that’s going to resonate with a lot more players too.”
Dual Front also lets you place defending and attacking operators on the same team, which offers less restrictions for new fans experimenting with different play styles.
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Siege X is releasing in June as a free title, which will likely increase the player base by millions. We asked Alex how the free-to-play model might increase growth in the competitive community and if he expects Siege Esports to grow alongside the expanded fan base.
“Our hope is that the competitive community keeps on getting bigger and better. I think our Esports community is amazing; they’ve been really passionate in introducing even more players to what Siege has to offer. More Esports competitions would be the dream.”
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One of the biggest additions coming in Siege X is modernized maps. These upgraded classics include locales like Clubhouse and Bank, and they’re releasing with enhanced graphics and destructible ingredients. Alex explained that the most competitive maps were reimagined first, along with the fan favorites.
“We wanted to rework the more popular and competitive maps first to make sure that we get the competitive map pool updated as soon as possible. It’s also a great place to look at the fan favorites and make sure that they feel new and that fans will be able to experience them as soon as possible.”
Inside each reworked map, destructible ingredients will add new ways to interact with each environment, but they’ll also offer opportunities for competitive players to outsmart the enemy team. One example is a fire extinguisher that provides a smoke screen once destroyed.
“These are opportunistic ingredients that anybody can engage with, and in the heat of a battle, I think you’re going to get the best plays when it comes to pros. The idea is to introduce these ingredients with a power level that’s there for both attackers and defenders, so I can see players making some clutch plays on a big stage.”
The expectation that modernized maps will affect competitive gameplay is high, but we’ll have to wait and see how pros make the most of destructible ingredients.
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The spectator camera may also see some changes soon, though Alex couldn’t share a release date for the improvements.
“The spectator camera is an ongoing feature that we’re constantly improving. We are doing work in terms of the player cards and the readability of it. The team’s actually hard at work right now making improvements based off of feedback we get from players and casters.”
The announcement of Siege X makes it clear that the esports scene is only going to expand, but we also asked about potential new gameplay systems that could shake up the meta, like the possibility of secondary gadgets being selected independently from operators.
“One of the big things is making sure that we don’t jeopardize competitive ranked or the Esports scene, but we’re working on ways that we can maybe lab test these things a little bit more and get player feedback a lot quicker to see if these are actually viable changes that you can make to the game. They are core systems that have been around for ten years, so we want to make sure that we get it right.”
Towards the end of the conversation, Alex reconfirmed Ubisoft’s support for esports and the competitive players who built the foundation for Siege X.
“What I would say is that we are dedicated to Eports having a greater presence in the game. For us, it doesn’t stop at supporting your team. It comes with understanding how everything’s organized and what the schedules are like, so in the short term, expect much more support.”
Siege fans have a lot to look forward to in 2025. Each season in Year 10 could add more revamped maps and graphical enhancements to help modernize Siege X. Mark your calendars for June 10th, as that’s the dawn of a new era for Rainbow Six Siege.
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As Operation Prep Phase rushes into Rainbow Six Siege at light speed, fans need to know where to go to enjoy the latest competitive matches. If you like Esports, then you can visit the Rainbow6 Twitch Channel to browse their expansive library of past competitive matches. Competitions like the Six Invitational 2025 are available for viewing now.
