Esports has emerged as the pinnacle of competitive gaming, encompassing tournaments, leagues, and show matches. Unlike traditional sports with regional teams, esports revolves around organizations that field teams. Some of the most prominent names in the scene include Team Liquid, Cloud 9, R6 esports Evil Geniuses, and Fnatic. These organizations often provide teams with salaries, cover travel expenses, secure sponsorship deals, and even supply housing and staff to assist players outside of gameplay.
The roots of modern esports trace back to the 1990s, with early tournaments for games like Street Fighter, Counter-Strike, Warcraft, and Quake. Today, competitions take place either offline at LAN events or online, with players competing from home over the internet.
In the case of Rainbow Six Siege, its esports scene began even before the game officially launched. After its reveal at E3, Ubisoft organized show matches with community members. In a developer blog, they also discussed internal tournaments that helped them refine the game.
One month after Rainbow Six Siege‘s release in January 2016, Ubisoft partnered with ESL and Microsoft to establish the Pro League for both PC and Xbox. Initially, the competition was limited to Europe and North America, with the lowest-ranking teams in each region facing relegation. The season’s finals took place in Katowice, Poland, with a $50,000 prize pool, and PENTA Sports emerged victorious. This format continued until Season 3, when Ubisoft introduced the first Major tournament for the game—the Six Invitational.
At the 2017 Invitational, Ubisoft announced the addition of Latin America (LATAM) as the third region in the Pro League, with Brazil soon dominating the scene. Later that year, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region was also integrated, divided into sub-regions including Southeast Asia, Korea, Japan, and Australia-New Zealand to prevent high-latency matches. At the end of the APAC season, the top two teams from each sub-region compete in an APAC Finals, with the grand finalists advancing to the global Pro League finals.
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Besides the Pro League, the second-tier Challenger League offers a pathway for teams to ascend to the Pro League. Teams qualifying for the Challenger League face off in a double round-robin format. Previously, the top two seeds would battle it out, with the winner swapping places with the lowest-seeded Pro League team. Now, the system has been streamlined: the top Challenger League team faces the bottom Pro League team, while the second seed challenges the seventh-place Pro League team, with the winners qualifying for the next season’s Pro League.
The Pro and Challenger Leagues follow strict rules, similar to those in traditional sports. Teams are prohibited from cheating, using performance-enhancing drugs, or fixing matches. Given that many qualifiers are hosted online, additional measures like anti-cheat programs and regular screenshot monitoring help maintain fairness. While spectators can see the outlines of all players, competitors can only view their teammates’ outlines during gameplay.
Before each match, teams ban maps, typically following a Ban-Ban-Pick or Ban-Pick-Ban format to eliminate weak maps or block strong maps for opponents. Teams also vote to ban one operator on both attack and defense, aiming to counter their opponents’ strategies. The “Sixth Pick” mechanic adds another layer of strategy, allowing teams to switch a selected operator after revealing their picks, often to counter the opponent’s choices or mislead them about their strategy.
In Rainbow Six Siege, there are four primary tournament levels:
- Regionals – Small, regional tournaments with a rule that typically requires three out of five players to come from the designated region.
- Minors – International tournaments, often serving as qualifiers for the next major, which can be either offline or online.
- Pro League – An ongoing league featuring all four regions, where top teams from Europe, North America, and Latin America qualify for LAN finals, alongside two finalists from APAC.
- Majors – The largest tournaments in the game, like the annual Six Invitational in Montreal and the Six Major, held in different locations each summer.
Within teams, players fulfill specific roles, often aligned with particular operators:
- Fragger – The primary attacker tasked with securing kills, often leading the charge on attack or playing as a roamer on defense.
- Support – Gathers information and denies enemy access, droning for the team on attack or monitoring cameras on defense.
- Flex – A versatile player who adapts between support and fragger roles based on the team’s needs.
- IGL (In-Game Leader) – Organizes and leads the team’s strategy during matches.
- Coach – Develops team strategies, improves synergy, and counter-strategizes against opponents.
Beyond the teams, a host of production staff supports esports events:
- Developers – Ubisoft’s developers create and maintain the game, organizing events in collaboration with tournament organizers.
- Casters – Esports commentators, typically in pairs, with one focusing on play-by-play narration and the other providing analytical insights.
- Hosts – Stage presenters at LAN events, who introduce teams and conduct interviews.
- Analysts – Experts who break down strategies for viewers during LAN events.
- Spectators – In-game camera operators responsible for ensuring viewers don’t miss key moments.
- Admins – Act as referees, ensuring teams follow the rules and resolving disputes when they arise.
Esports also thrives on its dedicated community, which contributes through platforms like SiegeGG, Liquipedia, and the Pro League subreddit. Fans can track stats, news, roster changes, and more, all while engaging in discussions about recent matches and tournaments.
In the dynamic world of Rainbow Six Siege esports, each player, staff member, and community contributor plays a vital role in shaping the competitive landscape. Keep an eye on SiegeGG for further updates as this thrilling scene continues to evolve.