Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege's new season, Operation New Blood, is finally here. While players are excited to get their hands on the new season, many of them have been shocked by the Battle Pass and the membership system.
For those unaware, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege's Battle Pass includes 100 tiers. Each tier includes a cosmetic, which can be a skin, an Alpha Pack, a Bravo Pack, a charm, or even Renown Boosters and R6 Credits. Although only Premium Battle Pass owners can obtain all of the cosmetics, the fact that players could get so much stuff for around US$10 is impressive.
However, with Operation New Blood, Siege's Battle Pass is changing a bit. Here's what's going on and how the community has reacted to it.
Starting from Operation New Blood, fans will have access to Ubisoft's brand-new membership system. This membership has changed the Battle Pass as we knew it before as now players have got two options: a monthly membership or a yearly membership. Here are the prices for each one:
- Monthly membership: US$9,99
- Yearly membership: US$79,99
This has caused the community to get furious at Ubisoft as now, to have access to the Battle Pass, players must purchase the membership first, which you can do via the official Ubisoft site here.
Just to compare the before and after Ubisoft's membership, before Operation New Blood, players could purchase the Premium Battle Pass for US$10, which lasted for three months (one season). Now, players must spend US$9,99 per month, which means players will eventually pay almost US$30 for all of the cosmetics.
Additionally, Ubisoft's previous Year Pass costed US$40 a year. Now, Ubisoft's Yearly membership costs US$79,99. In the case you opted for paying the membership each month, you would end up paying almost US$120.
With the price increase, the community's complaints have been made evident. Ubisoft's most recent announcement regarding Siege's membership is full of comments about the new system. Some players call Siege's new season "Operation Cash." Meanwhile, other players say they will only purchase the membership if Ubisoft gets rid of all the cheaters first.
Was this the right decision? Well, only time will tell. However, after Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege lost one third of its Steam players during May, the massive backlash from the community could put a cherry on top of Siege's cake.