If you’ve ever played a first-person shooter, chances are you’ve heard of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege. One in a genre of many, it had to withstand a lukewarm reception and relatively weak sales for a couple of years.
But the continuous support from its developer, Ubisoft, eventually propelled it into the limelight as a well-known esports title.
Nowadays, Ubisoft boasts a pretty respectable Rainbow Six Siege player count across various platforms, not to mention tens of thousands of Twitch viewers.
Throughout this article, we’ll look into some more detailed statistics and try to find an answer to why did Rainbow Six Siege get so popular?
Are you ready?
Striking Rainbow Six Siege Facts (Editor’s Choice)
- As of 2021, Rainbow Six Siege has more than 70 million registered users.
- Roughly 15 million people started playing Rainbow Six for the first time in 2020.
- A record 201,053 Rainbow Six enthusiasts were online at the same time in March 2021.
- Rainbow Six Siege recorded an average of 30,000-37,000 Twitch daily viewers in May 2021.
- Rainbow Six fans watch a combined 10 million hours of content on Twitch every month.
- Ubisoft has earned $2.8 billion in revenue just from Rainbow Six Siege.
- The 2020 Six Invitational esports tournament had a $3 million prize pool.
- Rainbow Six is one of the most reviewed games on Steam with 850,000 reviews.
Some Fun Rainbow Six Siege Information to Start
Ubisoft’s brainchild is now one of the top 10 most played games on the planet.
But just when did Rainbow Six Siege get this popular?
Well, it didn’t happen overnight, we can tell you that.
In fact, the game’s history is a great lesson in how perseverance leads to success.
Interested? Read on!
1. Rainbow Six Siege launched in 2015.
(Source: RockPaperShotgun)
After months of beta testing and some small delays, the game finally came out on December 1st, 2015.
Although Ubisoft developed the game with a “games as a service” model in mind, the company did not expect the player count of Rainbow Six to continue growing quite this much years after release.
2. Ubisoft always envisioned Rainbow Six Siege as an esport title.
(Source: RedBull)
Two years before the game was released, in 2013, the Ubisoft team met with the vice-president of the ESL (Electronic Sports League), David Hiltscher.
With the information it garnered at the meeting, the studio was able to place Rainbow Six among the successful esports from its development stages.
3. The 2020 Six Invitation esports tournament had a prize pool of $3 million.
(Source: CNBC)
Just three years earlier, in 2017, the exact same event had a total prize fund of $100,000. Then again, Rainbow Six’s player count had gone from 25 million in 2017 to 55 million in 2020. So, perhaps the increased prize pool was called for.
After all, if a thirty-times-bigger budget isn’t testament to Rainbow Six’s long-term success, we don’t know what is.
4. Crossplay is only available between platforms of the same family.
(Source: PC Gamer)
As you know, you can play Rainbow Six Siege on several platforms. And as of 2021, you can also crossplay!
It has some limitations, though. Console players—whether on a PlayStation or an Xbox—will be able to play together. However, PC users will never be put into a match with console players.
We guess that mouse-and-keyboard aiming advantage is simply insurmountable.
5. “Operation Health” saved Rainbow Six in 2017.
(Source: The Washington Post)
As previously mentioned, the game didn’t do particularly well at first. By 2016, Rainbow Six still had less than 20 million players. But Ubisoft did not give up on it.
In 2017, the company executed “Operation Health”. In other words, Ubisoft stopped releasing any content updates for several months and focused exclusively on fixing the netcode and server-related issues plaguing Rainbow Six.
Rainbow Six Siege Players Statistics: The Trends
Rainbow Six celebrated its sixth birthday in 2021, so you might be wondering what the player base looks like nowadays.
Is the game still going strong or is it past its prime?
Let’s dive deep into the numbers.
6. On average, Steam reports more than 40,000 Rainbow Six Siege concurrent players.
(Source: SteamCharts)
This number seems to fluctuate quite a bit, with content updates often bringing back a lot of people.
That said, the game performed best during the pandemic’s strict lockdowns. It seems gamers never had much of a problem with staying home!
According to Rainbow Six’s Steam charts, the player count reached 84,396 concurrent users on November 25, 2021, and then it took a downward shift. The player trend for December 2021 falls around the 40,000 mark.
7. 201,053 players were online simultaneously on March 18, 2021.
(Source: SteamDB)
It’s the highest Rainbow Six Siege player count we’ve seen yet—and, surprisingly, it was not due to lockdowns. Instead, the reason lies within the “free weekend” event Ubisoft ran at this time.
The previous record was set on March 19, 2020, when 199,307 players logged in simultaneously. Exactly one year (minus one day) later, Rainbow Six beat its own record. Epic.
But, how many people play Siege in total?
8. Rainbow Six Siege has more than 70 million registered users.
(Source: VG247)
The game’s user base seems to be growing quite steadily.
For comparison, in the beginning of 2018, the game only had 30 million users. A year later, this number had shot up to 45 million. By 2020, 15 million new players had joined the tactical shooter.
9. Every month, Rainbow Six fans watch a combined nine million hours (or more) of content on Twitch.
(Source: TwitchTracker)
Not only does Rainbow Six Siege boast a large player base across multiple platforms, but it also enjoys high viewership on Twitch—a site where you can watch other people gaming, or stream your own video, too.
In November 2021, the game averaged just over 12,000 concurrent viewers.
However, this number looks very different during certain events. For instance, during the 2021 Six Invitational tournament, Twitch viewership peaked at 272,721 viewers on May 22.
10. Nearly 850,000 players have reviewed Rainbow Six on Steam.
(Source: Steam)Rainbow Six Siege is one of the most reviewed games of all time. The game has a “very positive” overall rating, with 87.35% of reviewers leaving a positive comment.
In fact, it received about 15,000 new positive reviews right at the end of 2021!
11. Rainbow Six Siege’s PS4 player count surpasses 29 million users.
(Source: Techacake)
That’s more than 40% of the game’s playerbase, which is in line with other titles. Fortnite, for instance, earns nearly half of its revenue thanks to PlayStation users’ generous spending.
Fun fact: Only 4.8% of PlayStation users have obtained the “Siege Expert” trophy, which is awarded for completing every other token in the game. The remaining 95% still have some work to do!
12. Rainbow Six almost made it to the Xbox’s list of the top ten most played games on the console. Alas, it had to settle for number 11th.
(Source: Microsoft)
We don’t know the precise player count for Rainbow Six Siege on the Xbox, but we do know Microsoft’s website allows users to rank games by popularity.
Considering Xbox users have nearly 3,000 games to choose from, number 11 is no small feat.
Rainbow Six Siege Revenue: It’s Going Up
Unlike other popular titles, Rainbow Six is not free-to-play. In other words, every player equals a sale.
What’s more, it offers a robust selection of in-game cosmetics, which also generate a lot of money.
13. Rainbow Six Siege has brought Ubisoft $2.8 billion in revenue since its launch.
(Source: Ubisoft)
In 2019, this number stood at $1.1 billion. So, forget doing well, the game is picking up speed!
The studio doesn’t go into too much detail when it comes to the exact figures for Rainbow Six Siege sales, but we do know the game has approximately 70 million total players. That’s a lot of copies sold.
Plus, there are also the in-game offers…
14. Players spend dozens of millions of dollars on in-game cosmetics every month.
(Source: FutureGameReleases)
In June 2019, player spending hit $36.8 million—which is quite significant, considering Rainbow Six’s player count that year (50 million registered users).
To be fair, May 2019’s figure was significantly weaker, at about half that amount. But the player spending often fluctuates depending on the game’s updates.
Overall, 2020 saw a 26% increase in Player Recurring Investment (PRI) and “record engagement levels” according to Ubisoft.
15. “R6 Share” helped make the game a big esport.
(Source: The Washington Post)
“R6 Share” refers to a revenue-sharing program between Ubisoft and select esports teams.
Put simply, a participating organization gets to design in-game cosmetics themed after the Pro League. When a player purchases those cosmetics, 30% of the proceeds go to the respective team.
Keep in mind that Rainbow Six Siege’s player count is massive, so we’re talking about a lot of money here.
This makes Rainbow Six’s esports scene much more accessible since teams are practically guaranteed a profit. Simultaneously, Ubisoft benefits from the added variety of cosmetics.
Wrap Up
So, is Rainbow Six Siege dying?
On the contrary—it’s growing.
Few games can brag about being six years old and still gaining two-digit player numbers every year.
Of course, it’s hard to say with certainty what the Rainbow Six Siege player count will look like in the future, what with the game being rather cyclical in terms of content updates.
One thing is certain, though—Rainbow Six is getting ever bigger on the esports scene.
Now that you’ve learnt some spicy new stuff about Rainbow Six Siege, go back in there and pump those player count stats up!
Sources
Unaware that life beyond the internet exists, Nick is poking servers and control panels, playing with WordPress add-ons, and helping people get the hosting that suits them.
