Rainbow Six Siege Boss Expects Player Numbers to Drop When GTA 6 Launches
Rainbow Six Siege creative director Joshua Mills expects the launch of GTA 6 to impact player numbers across the gaming industry, regardless of genre.
Speaking to The Game Business, Mills discussed how Ubisoft plans to handle the launch of GTA 6 on November 19, which will coincide with the release of Rainbow Six Siege's fourth season of the year.
Mills expects players to temporarily leave other games to play Rockstar's highly anticipated release, including members of his own development team.
"We've got a massive launch coming with GTA. It doesn't matter what genre you're in – you're going to take a hit when that drops. People are going to play it, and then they'll come back. Heck, all of us are going to play it."
Rather than treating a decline in players as a major concern, Mills said developers need to manage their expectations and recognise that the effect should only be temporary.
"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."
Ubisoft Won't Back Down During GTA 6 Launch
Ubisoft doesn't plan to reduce its support for Rainbow Six Siege during the GTA 6 launch window. Instead, Mills says the studio intends to focus on rewarding the players who continue spending their time with the game.
"Our golden rule is to serve the players who stay like kings and queens. 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."
Rainbow Six Siege's Season Four is scheduled to arrive around the same time as GTA 6, and Ubisoft is holding back some currently unannounced content for the occasion.
"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."
The comments provide another example of a major publisher actively planning around GTA 6's release, although Ubisoft's approach differs from simply avoiding the launch window. The company expects Siege's player numbers to fall temporarily, but plans to continue releasing content while players are focused on Rockstar's new game.
Joshua Mills' full interview can be found on The Game Business.