According to a report from Rafael Ferreira at BLIX.GG, a majority of teams set to compete in the upcoming Brazilian Serie B (Challenger League equivalent) tournament have joined together to boycott the day one games due to a recent Ubisoft announcement that this year's Brasileirão relegation event has been cancelled.
This Ubisoft announcement which came on Wednesday, Sep. 14, lined up with similar announcements that came earlier in the day for the Mexican and South American sub-regions. They were also similar to ones made in June for the North American and European regions (though those were not yet definitive).
When we look at the planned changes in Rainbow Six Siege competitive calendar in 2023, we announce that... there will be no relegation in the Rainbow Six Brazil Championship. Despite the structural change in the tournament we will remain dedicated to providing for all teams and players opportunities for them to develop and continue being a storehouse of new talent. Thus, the winning team of the competition in 2022 will receive a reward that we will disclose after the format changes are announced.
For the last two years, the last placed BR6 roster played the BR6 Serie B winner for a spot in the professional league in the following year.
This was expected to continue this year, but with upcoming changes to the BR6 competitive format for the 2023 season set to be announced, this won't be taking place this year, leaving the tier-two and three teams no way to earn their way into the big leagues.
As expressed in the BLIX.GG article, the lack of certainty surrounding what the future of the region holds -- whether the BR6 League is being franchised or not -- has worried both players, and organizations which has invested in the Serie B tournament leading to this planned boycott.
Currently, the BR6b tournament, which starts on Tuesday, Sep. 20, includes a number of very notable organizations, including the academy roster of Team oNe and SuperNova Team, which has been the prior home of numberous current Black Dragons and TropiCaos players.
In previous years the tournament also included Guidance Gaming and Team Singularity, among many other organizations while the likes of Black Dragons, FURIA, and w7m have also had secondary rosters compete in tier-two tournaments. BLIX.GG also reported that there were organizations that had made commitments to invest in teams but had pulled out due to the Ubisoft announcement.
Should the boycott go ahead, it is unclear how Ubisoft would react, as the R6 scene hasn't had a coordinated movement like this happen in any region beforehand. While it could possibly lead to Ubisoft publicly or privately opening up about future plans in the region before scheduled, it is very unlikely to change any plans they already have in place, especially if the league is planned to be franchised.
Should the play day be postponed or teams potentially disqualified from the competition, SiegeGG will be sure to keep you updated.