Rainbow Six Siege Director Prepares for GTA 6 Impact, Vows to Treat Loyal Players 'Like Kings and Queens'

Ubisoft is already strategizing for the launch of Grand Theft Auto 6, and it plans to reward Rainbow Six Siege players who remain loyal "like kings and queens."

Even though GTA 6 is still months away, its November release is already shaking up the gaming industry. Other publishers are packing their own big releases into September and early October to avoid competing directly. So far, no major publisher—aside from Nintendo with its The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake—seems willing to risk a big-budget launch in November. But what about live-service games that must keep running during the height of GTA 6 mania? They're likely to see player numbers drop.

"We've got a massive launch coming with GTA," acknowledged Joshua Mills, creative director of Ubisoft's long-running Rainbow Six Siege, in an interview with The Game Business. Since its 2015 debut, the game has maintained a dedicated player base—though Mills admits he expects many of them to drift away and try Rockstar's blockbuster when it launches.

"It doesn't matter what genre you're in—you're going to take a hit when that drops," Mills continued. "People are going to play it, and then they'll come back. Heck, all of us are going to play it. It's about being smart with your expectations so you can keep the team and HQ aligned. If the team sees player numbers dip, they can get anxious, but it's generally temporary."

And for those who do stick around, it sounds like Ubisoft has big plans to make it one of the best times to play in years.

"Our golden rule is to serve the players who stay like kings and queens," Mills concluded. "We don't go on vacation just because a competitor is swelling the market. We double down and reward those spending their valuable time with us. Funnily enough, Season Four will drop right around that time. That shifts up the game in different ways. We actually have some unannounced surprises held back to make a splash."

It's an intriguing tactic: not deliberately ceding ground to GTA 6, even while acknowledging the inevitable interest in the game that will likely deflate Siege's own player numbers—temporarily, at least. I'll be interesting to see what other live-service games might do, too.