Update (February 22nd 2022): Ubisoft has taken the decision to move the August Major from the UAE to another region.
In an announcement tweet, Ubisoft said: “Choosing this location for a Six Major was the result of extensive discussions with our local teams in the region, the UAE government and our local esports partner, and their collective commitment that a Six Major in Abu Dhabi would be an event in which anyone, of all gender identities, sexual orientations, cultural backgrounds, or other individual traits, would be included and welcomed, as has been the case with numerous other events previously held in the city.
“With that in mind, we also hear loud and clear that members of the international Siege community question this choice, and we have taken the decision to move the Six Major of August 2022 to another Rainbow Six Esports region, with the exact location yet to be determined.”
UK Siege caster Fluke commented saying she was proud of the community’s reaction and hopes to see human rights properly supported in the UAE in the future:
Fellow UK caster Geo added: “Great decision from Ubisoft to move the summer major out of Abu Dhabi to a non-MENA region.
“While they claim the event may have been inclusive, crossing the borders and commuting through the country likely would not have been. Proud of the community for being so vocal!”
Original article (published February 21st 2022):
The Rainbow Six Siege Six Invitational has barely ended, but the Siege esports community is talking about a separate announcement that will impact talent and fans of the game.
Ubisoft has announced that its Season 2022 roadmap of international events for Siege will include a major in August in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a country where LGBTQ+ people are criminalised with serious life-threatening consequences.
UK Siege caster Geo spoke out about the issue on Twitter, responding to questions about it and standing up for LGBTQ+ talent in Siege, including the likes of UK caster Fluke and Australian caster JessGoat.
Fluke, a UK Siege caster who has spoken out on receiving transphobic abuse in the past, responded to Ubisoft’s announcement with the following tweet:
Earlier this month, Fluke was nominated for ‘Best LGBTQ Contribution to Esports’ award at the 2022 Gayming Awards, which takes place in London on April 25th 2022.
Australian caster JessGoat, meanwhile, who has been open about her sexual orientation as a lesbian, has currently asked not to be tagged on socials today as she focuses on the Six Invitational.
A petition has also been set up to stop the UAE Siege Major from taking place:
Others have questioned Ubisoft for making Siege diverse as a game, with openly gay characters like Flores, only to make decisions like these.
Many in the Siege esports community commented on the above posts and elsewhere on social media, with several rallying around Siege talent and publicly supporting them.
The UAE Major will be a Stage 2 Major, while Ubisoft is also planning a Stage 1 Major in the US in May, and a Stage 3 Major in Asia towards the end of the year, in November 2022.
The news comes one month after ESL and FaceIT were acquired by Savvy Gaming Group (SGG), which is 100% owned by Saudi Arabian government. This drew similar criticism from pockets of the esports community for Saudi’s human rights record.
More Siege esports news – live audiences planned for events, World Cup delayed again and TSM win SI
Ubisoft also said it has “hopes of welcoming back fans on-site for each and every [international event], following strict sanitary measures”.
“We are designing those events to cater to a live audience while monitoring closely the evolution of the pandemic to take the appropriate actions, should the situation require it, to continue ensuring the health and safety of our players, fans, staff, and partners,” Ubisoft added in this blog post on the Rainbow Six esports year 7 roadmap.
For upcoming Six Invitational events, these will leave Montreal from 2024. For next year, Ubisoft is “still looking at different options, with all cards on the table” for 2023.
Ubisoft also announced that the Rainbow Six World Cup has been delayed to 2023. This was initially due to take place in 2021, but was delayed to 2022 due to the pandemic and has now been delayed again.
“We truly wish to make the Rainbow Six World Cup a unique event for the entire Siege Family to gather and enjoy, and for local communities to share their love, pride and unconditional support for the team that will represent their country or region on the worldwide stage,” Ubisoft said. “As the situation around the pandemic remains uncertain, we have decided to postpone the Rainbow Six World Cup to 2023.”
In other 2022 Rainbow Six esports news, TSM won the Six Invitational today, beating Team Empire 3-1 in the final. UK teams and talent exited the 2022 Six Invitational playoffs a few days ago.
Season 2022 will get underway on March 9th, with the launch of Stage 1 of the regional leagues in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America.
Tributes paid to KiXSTAr
During the Six Invitational broadcast, Ubisoft and members of the team and community paid tribute to caster Michael ‘KiXSTAr’ Stockley who passed away in October 2021.
KiXSTAr’s parents were featured on the broadcast:
There is a longer clip paying tribute to KiXSTAr here, and Ubisoft also paid a separate tribute to KiXSTAr by adding a plaque on the Presidential Plane map in-game.
More Y7S2 updates – additional observer slots, camera and replay updates
Elsewhere, Ubisoft announced that with the game’s Year 7 Season 2 release, three additional observer slots will be added to custom online games, meaning that a total of four dedicated observer slots will be available.
The camera will also be able to be detached, showing an operator’s point of view during a match to put it anywhere on the map, providing new angles for viewers.
Furthermore, Ubisoft is also looking to make replays accessible during an entire game season, and adding a feature that will allow players to select and report suspicious players while watching a replay.
The news and reaction comes after Ubisoft revealed Rainbow Six Siege’s Year 7 Season 1 (Y7S1) details. Operation Demon Veil will introduce a new map set in Ireland, a perma Team Deathmatch mode and new Japanese operator Azami, among other additional features.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
Yes its criminalised. But only of you have sex with the same gender. If you are part of the lgbtq and dont do any physical intimacy, you’ll be fine. The laws are sharia laws. Apply for every one. So if you are worried we’ll stone you if you are gay or lesbian or part of the lgbtq, no. We wont.