In an announcement today, the new Ubisoft-run North American Rainbow Six esports Twitter account released a statement detailing some more information on the upcoming season of North American competition.
The statement reads:
We want to reach out and thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for being a part of the Pro League saga these past four years. We also want to thank all the organizations and teams who have been with us on this journey to grow the Pro League with your talent and dedication. Of all the amazing organizations who have competed, we want to extend a special thank you to Evil Geniuses, Luminosity, and Reciprocity -- and it's with a heavy heart for us to confirm that they won't be joining us for the next chapter of Rainbow Six Esports. We wish them the best of luck in the future and truly hope our paths cross again. We also want to clarify some details on our upcoming US Division. This will be one of the most significant investments into Rainbow Six Esports in North America to date, and we're currently in discussion to partner with teams that both support our community and, more importantly, and provide their players with the financial stability to perform at the top of their game. Going forward, these invited organizations will have the right to compete in the US Division and are free to choose their starting rosters at the beginning of the 2020 Season. During the Season, there will be designated transfer windows and rules related to player rosters to provide an additional framework for the teams. We are strong believers in a performance-based ecosystem that is fair and sustainable for fresh talent to enter the scene. This means the new league will continue to feature a path to the US Division including a promotion/relegation system, as well as a robust challenger/grassroots program that we're excited to share more about in the coming weeks.
This news confirms some previously-seen rumors that the two organisations would be dropping their competitive rosters and reiterates the statement from Team Reciprocity that they would be looking to sell their team due to financial constraints.
Team Reciprocity, however, was successful in finding a new organisation for its roster. As such, the Season 10 Pro League semi-finalists will continue on in this new system when it is launched. For Luminosity Gaming and Evil Geniuses, though, there has been no such luck and the organisations -- and the rosters, as it stands -- will be exiting the competitive scene.
However, there are still some questions about how exactly the new system will work and the status of each of its teams. Evil Geniuses player Austin "Yung" Trexler stated that he does not believe that the EG roster will be able to compete next season, even if it stuck together, but is not sure if that decision would change if the players were able to sign with another organisation before the start of next season.
Ubisoft's statement also reads that there will be a promotion and relegation system and grassroots programs to support the lower level of the North American competitive scene. This was a criticism many have had of the new announcements, with the majority of people unaware of the nature of the changes in their entirety.
Despite that, there are still questions about how this will interact with what organisations are present in Pro League and how tthe logistics of promotion and relegation will work with a league played entirely on LAN.
Ubisoft did state that they will make more of this information clear "in the coming weeks", however, and all eyes in the competitive scene will be upon them with the Pro League having ended.
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Make sure to check back here at SiegeGG for more information on the changes to the Rainbow Six Esports circuit coming over the next several months!