During our coverage of the Rainbow Six Pro League Season 10 Finals in Tokoname, Japan, we got to interview some key people from Ubisoft. First, we were able to chat with Fracois-Xaviere Deniele (EMEA Esports Director) who shared how Asia, specifically Southeast Asia is a key region for Rainbow Six esports given the game’s huge potential there.
Deniele wasn’t the only one who mentioned the incredible growth potential of Rainbow Six in SEA, both in actual playerbase and in esports. In fact, Ubisoft Asia Managing Director, Steve Miller also thinks so too.
Ubisoft Asia Managing Director, Steve Miller
In my quick interview with Miller, he mentioned some of his insight on Rainbow Six’s current status in SEA:
“I think for every country in Asia, Rainbow Six can be huge. It’s just that, it becomes popular at a different pace in every country. [Rainbow Six] in Japan became popular at a very fast pace. China it became popular at a fast pace as well. It’s taking longer for Korea, and it’s taking longer in the rest of Southeast Asia.”
Miller also highlighted how infrastructure can play a key role in a game’s development in a country. Take for instance Japan, Rainbow Six Siege’s biggest region in Asia. Given how the Philippines is not yet there in terms of infrastructure, there’s till quite a ways to go.
“The game itself is good, and I think it being used as an esports is exciting and can be exciting for everyone in the Philippines just as well as in Japan. But, there could be some network issues that make it non-competitive, there could be some content issues that we have to look at to make it more accessible. It could be a question of maybe payment and how the customers can try to make a payment for the products. It could be a lot of things, but I’m optimistic. It think the game is good, so we’ll see what happens.”
Rainbow Six Pro League Season 10 Finals in Tokoname, Japan
That doesn’t mean that Ubisoft is just waiting for infrastructure in the Philippines to get better before expanding Rainbow Six esports. To further drive the game’s growth in the Philippines, a source from Ubisoft mentioned that a dedicated Rainbow Six Siege League will be set-up in early 2020. While no final plans have been announced, from the information that we’ve been given, the League will feature teams from different SEA regions, including the Philippines.
Right now, there is a dedicated Rainbow Six Siege community in the Philippines. Thanks to the fans’ continued support of the game, plus Ubisoft’s commitment to esports in the region, the future of Rainbow Six in the Philippines is looking very bright indeed.