Image via XSET
XSET has officially announced their reported return to the North American League in Rainbow Six Siege. Despite the loss in a relegation match, they will be the tenth team.
The official announcement comes on the wave of a widely reported roster being signed by the organization.
In an interview with SiegeGG, XSET COO Marco Mereu says they’ve begun assembling their roster before they knew 100 percent that they were in. He says it shows their dedication to the scene, and their willingness to invest in the long-term future of the esport.
“Within the hour [of XSET’s relegation loss to Parabellum], I was emailing Ubisoft notifying them of our interest to be back in NAL,” Mereu said. He went on to say that there was a process to getting in, and multiple other organizations were interested, but ultimately XSET was selected.
While Mereu is confident of the new-look XSET heading into the new Stage, he understands that they’re going to have to earn some respect. “We had to play in the relegation match in Stage 3 with Parabellum, we know what that result meant,” Mereu said. The result meant that XSET’s license was vacant, and they would have to re-apply for the same process they did last year if they wished to remain in the league.
The policy toes the line between American franchised leagues and a more European-style promotion and relegation system. NAL teams are based in Vegas for the LAN league, and convincing a team to open another wing of their team in another city is a tall ask if there’s a significant chance of relegation. At the very least, the reported XSET roster is 100 percent different than the one that got relegated – the jerseys are the same, the players that will reportedly fill them, different.
This season of the NAL will be done under a new Ubisoft side organization – the move from regional offices to one global office has many excited about the future of the regional leagues. “The new direction on esports at Ubisoft has got us excited to be in NAL again,” Mereu said.
There has not been any public announcement for an official return to play.