Fans of the popular online first-person shooter Rainbow Six Siege aren’t happy with the recent update by developer Ubisoft. In a trend that has been going on for a while, the game is being hammered with negative user reviews on Steam because of that.
Last week, Ubisoft very openly explained their reasoning and plans for changing some visual aspects of Rainbow Six Siege in preparation of the game’s release in Asian territories. To be able to make their game available, Ubisoft needs to adhere to local censorship regulations. In this case, this mainly covers visual representation of violence, gambling and lewdness.
As seen, the changes are purely aesthetic but this didn’t help sooth the game’s fan base. Quite the opposite. Despite Ubisoft stating that no changes to the gameplay will happen, some fans argue that the toning down of blood splatters will lead to confusion whether a shot landed. Especially in the heat of the fight, this visual marker is a helpful tool.
Furthermore, a large portion of disgruntled players can not understand why this censorship update is being applied globally for all players. It’s true, the regulations which make this update necessary for Rainbow Six Siege are only needed in some Asian countries. Most importantly China. As such, this global update to bring the game to Chinese standards is seen by some as much more than just a cosmetic change.
Some arguments on the web and Steam user reviews even go as far as to accusing Ubisoft for bowing down to China’s interest. As you might imagine, this controversy has reached far greater importance than just gaming for these individuals.
Ubisoft will likely comment to this recent outrage, and we wouldn’t be surprised if the publisher reverted their stance on maintaining one single branch of Rainbow Six Siege globally and instead diverted their game into censored and uncensored versions. The last thing a publisher wants, is bad PR after all.
