Courtesy IGDB
Over the last few decades, the rise of a new form of athlete has become commonplace. The esports athlete, a professional video game player who competes on the global stage in their game of specialty, has become the career inspiration for kids all over the world. One of the biggest games in the esports scene is “Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege,” but this game did not always see this level of success.
Published and developed by Ubisoft Montreal, “Siege” was released on Dec. 1, 2015 and met with extremely mixed reviews. “Siege” is a first-person shooter built around 5-on-5 tactical team-based gameplay. Players take on counterterrorism operations like rescuing a hostage, taking control of key locations or defusing a bomb. At its release, it quickly became apparent that the game had a number of problems: poor lighting quality, a small roster of characters, known as operators, and several game-breaking bugs and weapons that made the game unenjoyable to play at home and impossible to play in a competitive environment.
Nonetheless, Ubisoft stuck with it.
When a game published by a AAA developer tanks, they tend to just let it die and make whatever profit they can from the ashes. Though AAA projects are the games with the highest budgets and expectations, developed by the studios that control the games industry, most developers decide that taking the loss is better than putting more time into a game that’s already been written off. Despite this, Ubisoft, one of the biggest developers in the world, decided to stick with their project, and continue to develop it into a polished, finished product.
Through a series of updates over the past three years, “Siege” has slowly patched itself into a beautiful, fully-functional game that supports an open and diverse community, both in the competitive scene and otherwise. I initially thought it would never be the type of game I would enjoy, but “Siege” has kept me hooked since I first got my hands on it in August 2016. It was the game that motivated me to buy a PC, the game that motivates me to get better and better, the game that I have sunk countless hours into and play competitively in the hopes that one day, I, too, may make my mark on the competitive esports scene.
Currently, the pro scene for “Siege” has two leagues — the Pro League and the Challenger League — run by Electronic Sports League, the world’s biggest esports platform. The Pro League is where the best of the best play and the Challenger League is for the second-tier teams, although every team in the Challenger League still has a roster made up of some the best players in the world. At the end of the season, relegation matches force the bottom two teams from the Pro League and the top two teams from the Challenger League to play each other to determine who gets to play in the following Pro League season. The Pro League is currently in its tenth season.
As it currently stands, there are two six-month seasons each year for the Pro and Challenger Leagues. Each season, the top two teams in the regions of North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia/Pacific compete for the title of Pro League Champion. Additionally, there are two other primary competitions during the year, known as the Major and the Invitational, where 16 of the best teams from all over the world, regardless of region and league fight for the trophy and title of world champions. There are several other official tournaments and leagues hosted throughout the “Siege” world, including several community-run leagues and tournaments, but these are the most important ones.
Last month, the second-ever Major was hosted in Raleigh, Texas, where five teams from North America, five teams from Europe, three teams from Asia/Pacific and three teams from Latin America battled to claim the better part of the $500,000 prize pool. The competition was won by Team Empire from Russia.
The 2019 Invitational and it’s $2 million prize pool were won by the European team G2 Esports, the greatest team to ever play the game, taking home the title of world champions and $800,000. The G2 roster — currently composed of the players Fabian, Pengu, UUNO, Kantoraketti and Goga, along with their coaches Shas and Sua) — has earned the reputation of being the best after winning the Paris Major in 2018, the 2018 and 2019 Invitationals, and 4 out of the 9 Pro League seasonal finals. Other great teams like Evil Geniuses and Liquid have seen great levels of success, but none to the extreme degree that this titan of the “Siege” esports scene has seen. Over time, “Siege” and its competitive scene have evolved into what it is now: a thriving, lively community of people who all share the same passion, “Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege”.
Published and developed by Ubisoft Montreal, “Siege” was released on Dec. 1, 2015 and met with extremely mixed reviews. “Siege” is a first-person shooter built around 5-on-5 tactical team-based gameplay. Players take on counterterrorism operations like rescuing a hostage, taking control of key locations or defusing a bomb. At its release, it quickly became apparent that the game had a number of problems: poor lighting quality, a small roster of characters, known as operators, and several game-breaking bugs and weapons that made the game unenjoyable to play at home and impossible to play in a competitive environment.
Nonetheless, Ubisoft stuck with it.
When a game published by a AAA developer tanks, they tend to just let it die and make whatever profit they can from the ashes. Though AAA projects are the games with the highest budgets and expectations, developed by the studios that control the games industry, most developers decide that taking the loss is better than putting more time into a game that’s already been written off. Despite this, Ubisoft, one of the biggest developers in the world, decided to stick with their project, and continue to develop it into a polished, finished product.
Through a series of updates over the past three years, “Siege” has slowly patched itself into a beautiful, fully-functional game that supports an open and diverse community, both in the competitive scene and otherwise. I initially thought it would never be the type of game I would enjoy, but “Siege” has kept me hooked since I first got my hands on it in August 2016. It was the game that motivated me to buy a PC, the game that motivates me to get better and better, the game that I have sunk countless hours into and play competitively in the hopes that one day, I, too, may make my mark on the competitive esports scene.
Currently, the pro scene for “Siege” has two leagues — the Pro League and the Challenger League — run by Electronic Sports League, the world’s biggest esports platform. The Pro League is where the best of the best play and the Challenger League is for the second-tier teams, although every team in the Challenger League still has a roster made up of some the best players in the world. At the end of the season, relegation matches force the bottom two teams from the Pro League and the top two teams from the Challenger League to play each other to determine who gets to play in the following Pro League season. The Pro League is currently in its tenth season.
As it currently stands, there are two six-month seasons each year for the Pro and Challenger Leagues. Each season, the top two teams in the regions of North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia/Pacific compete for the title of Pro League Champion. Additionally, there are two other primary competitions during the year, known as the Major and the Invitational, where 16 of the best teams from all over the world, regardless of region and league fight for the trophy and title of world champions. There are several other official tournaments and leagues hosted throughout the “Siege” world, including several community-run leagues and tournaments, but these are the most important ones.
Last month, the second-ever Major was hosted in Raleigh, Texas, where five teams from North America, five teams from Europe, three teams from Asia/Pacific and three teams from Latin America battled to claim the better part of the $500,000 prize pool. The competition was won by Team Empire from Russia.
The 2019 Invitational and it’s $2 million prize pool were won by the European team G2 Esports, the greatest team to ever play the game, taking home the title of world champions and $800,000. The G2 roster — currently composed of the players Fabian, Pengu, UUNO, Kantoraketti and Goga, along with their coaches Shas and Sua) — has earned the reputation of being the best after winning the Paris Major in 2018, the 2018 and 2019 Invitationals, and 4 out of the 9 Pro League seasonal finals. Other great teams like Evil Geniuses and Liquid have seen great levels of success, but none to the extreme degree that this titan of the “Siege” esports scene has seen. Over time, “Siege” and its competitive scene have evolved into what it is now: a thriving, lively community of people who all share the same passion, “Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege”.