'Rainbow Six Siege' Announces a "Evaluation Period" for New Operators in Competitive Play

Rainbow Six Siege’s newest Operators won’t be playable in the game’s professional matches [...]

By Tanner Dedmon

Rainbow Six Siege's newest Operators won't be playable in the game's professional matches immediately after the characters are available due to a new "Evaluation Period" measure that's being put into effect.

Ubisoft announced the plan to keep new Operators out of the esports scene for several months after their release through a post on the game's site. The Evaluation Period would prevent new Operators from any season from being picked in competitive games until 3 months have passed after the Operators' release dates. The timing of this measure will notably affect Kaid and Nomad, the two new Operators being added in Operation Wind Bastion.

"To avoid further unintended mechanics at the highest levels of competitive play, we are implementing measures to help maintain the game's competitive integrity as we continue to evolve Rainbow Six Siege esports," Ubisoft said before elaborating on the goals of the measure.

By restricting access to the new Operators in the competitive scene, Ubisoft said pro players will have a period in which they can better learn the mechanics of the Operators and incorporate them into a team setting. The Evaluation Period that's being applied to the Operators is not unlike the same system that's in place for new maps that makes it so that the latest maps aren't immediately tossed into the competitive pool upon release.

"By default this period will be 3 months, and our design team will assess each operator individually and consolidate their results with feedback from the pro community to determine if extending the Evaluation Period is appropriate," Ubisoft said regarding the current plan for the length of the Evaluation Period.

For the players outside of the professional scene who make up most of the game's community, not much will change. Ubisoft said the Evaluation Period will "ultimately allow a better competitive play and viewing experience," so viewers should, in theory, have a better time watching the games after the measure is implemented. Rainbow Six Siege's new Evaluation Period for Operators also only applies strictly to the esports scene with events and leagues like the Pro League, Challenger League, and Six Invitational falling under that umbrella, so anyone who plays the game in either the casual or ranked settings will still be able to play as Kaid and Nomad and any other future Operators right after they've been released.

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