The upcoming launch of Grand Theft Auto 6 is expected to capture significant player attention, a phenomenon acknowledged by Joshua Mills, creative director for Ubisoft's Rainbow Six Siege. Mills anticipates that Siege will "take a hit" in player numbers when Rockstar's highly anticipated title releases in November 2026, a sentiment shared by the development team.
"All of us are going to play it," Mills stated in a recent interview. He emphasized the importance of managing expectations internally, noting that a drop in player numbers can cause anxiety among the development staff. However, Mills also observed that the impact of major competitor releases on player counts is typically temporary. Ubisoft's approach, according to Mills, is to "double down and reward those spending their valuable time with us," a philosophy he referred to as the "golden rule" for serving the dedicated player base.
Rainbow Six Siege's fourth season of its eleventh year is slated to launch around the same time as GTA 6. While details remain undisclosed, Mills teased that "some unannounced surprises" are planned for the season, aiming to "make a splash."
Regarding the possibility of a "Siege 2," Mills explained Ubisoft's decision to pursue iterative improvements, exemplified by "Siege X," rather than a full sequel. He described the process of fundamentally rebuilding the game's systems as a "mountain of work" that would require a scale far beyond what "Siege X" represents. Furthermore, Mills highlighted the practical difficulties of developing a sequel, including the need for the expertise of the current development team and the challenge of running both games simultaneously, which he deemed "really difficult to do."
The Rainbow Six franchise is set to expand beyond its core shooter with the release of "Rainbow Six Siege Tactics" in 2027, a turn-based tactical game set within the same universe.