Today Ubisoft has revealed the new Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Esports Global Circuit, set to launch in March 2023.
This new version of the global circuit will encompass nine regions as Ubisoft hopes it will create more opportunities for ‘high-stake international matches, while offering up-and-coming teams and players a path to the top level of competition’.
Starting in March 2023, the Rainbow Six Esports Global Circuit will be comprised of the following nine regions: Europe, North America, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, Hispanic Latin America, Asia, Oceania and MENA.
The UK represents a good part of European Siege esports, with several UK casters, players and teams involved.
Recently, Wolves Esports become first org to win back to back stages in Rainbow Six European League.
“We are thrilled to be working with a partner that shares our vision for the future of entertainment and that can help us bring to life a new high-end esports circuit the Siege community can be excited and proud of. We cannot wait to showcase the full potential of our collaboration with Blast.”
François-Xavier Deniele, Ubisoft
The competitive season will run from March 2023 through the following February 2024 and will be structured as follows:
- March to May: Stage 1, concluded by an extended Six Major in May
- June to August: Off-Season
- September to November: Stage 2, concluded by an extended Six Major in November
- December to February: Off-Season
- February: Six Invitational
During each stage, the nine regions will run their independent regional programs in parallel. The pre-defined off-seasons, in addition to creating room for third-party tournaments, will give more time for teams to regroup, rest and prepare for the next stage or competition.
Supported by a revamped point system, the entire competitive season will be a race to score points to qualify for the Six Invitational, which gathers the 20 best teams every season. The winners will be crowned Rainbow Six Siege’s World Champions, and will get to lift the coveted Sledge Hammer.
Rainbow Six Blast partnership
Ubisoft has also announced a multi-year partnership with tournament operator Blast across the Rainbow Six Esports Global Circuit (except Japan), from regional programs to international events.
“We are thrilled to be working with a partner that shares our vision for the future of entertainment and that can help us bring to life a new high-end esports circuit the Siege community can be excited and proud of. We cannot wait to showcase the full potential of our collaboration with Blast”, said François-Xavier Deniele, VP of esports and competitive gaming at Ubisoft.
“Together with Ubisoft, we have exciting plans to elevate and grow the Rainbow Six Siege esports scene and we look forward to leveraging the full extent of our esports expertise and first class technology across broadcast, production and direct-to-consumer streaming, to create an ecosystem that the community can be proud of, and excited about. This is a historic partnership for Blast, we are thrilled to be joining the Siege family and to show them what we have in store in the coming months”, added Leo Matlock, MD of development at Blast.
Stage 1 & 2: Regional Programs
The gateway to qualify for the Six Major at the end of each stage, the regional programs will embrace a ‘hybrid competitive approach’ that combines both closed and open components.
Creating regular opportunities for up-and-coming players to compete against professionals is crucial for the long-term health and competitiveness of the scene, Ubisoft says. Therefore, each of the nine regions will feature an open qualifier component where all teams can compete to grab a spot at the Six Major.
In parallel, certain regions will also run closed leagues where fans will be able to enjoy the top teams competing at the highest level of Siege esports.
Combined, the closed leagues and Six Major open qualifiers will together determine which teams qualify for the Six Major at the end of each stage.
Ubisoft confirmed that the following regions will have closed leagues running in parallel with their open qualifiers:
- Europe: closed league with up to 10 teams
- North America: closed league with up to 10 teams
- Brazil: closed league with up to 10 teams
- Japan: closed league with up to 10 teams
- South Korea: closed league with up to 8 teams
- Hispanic Latin America: closed league with up to 8 teams
The regional programs in Asia, Oceania and MENA are being finetuned in collaboration with Blast and more details will be shared soon.
Six Majors in 2023 and beyond
With nine regions represented in the event and a number of teams coming directly from regional qualifiers, the Six Major is being extended and will now feature an additional phase before the group stage and playoffs.
More details about the 2023 Rainbow Six Esports Global Circuit can be found at https://rainbow6.com/2023Reveal
You can watch the full reveal video here:
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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.
