Siege X — Two Weeks In: What’s Working, What’s Failing, and What Comes Next
Ubisoft’s much-hyped Siege X has been live for just over two weeks. Billed as a massive evolution of Rainbow Six Siege, this update promised to reshape the core gameplay experience. So—how’s it going?
Let’s break down what was promised, what was delivered, and where things are falling short.
What Was Promised with Siege X?
Ubisoft didn’t hold back in its marketing push. Siege X wasn’t just about new content—it was about reimagining Siege from the ground up. Here’s a recap of the big promises:
Dual Front – A new permanent 6v6 respawn mode with a shifting meta.
Visual & Audio Enhancements – Modernized graphics, reworked sound design.
Destructible Ingredients – Tactical environmental elements that change how engagements play out.
Movement & UI Improvements – Better rappelling, ping wheel, revamped pick-and-ban.
Smarter Onboarding – A more accessible experience for new players.
ShieldGuard – A next-gen anti-cheat system.
Free-to-Play Base – With paid tiers for competitive play.
Veteran Rewards – Special skins and charms to honor long-time players.
Dual Front: A New Direction That’s Failing to Land
Dual Front is the boldest gameplay shift Ubisoft has made in years—featuring 6v6 battles, respawns, and mixed attacker/defender squads on a new map. For Siege veterans, it feels more like Call of Duty: Domination than traditional Siege.
And yet, the community response has been... almost nonexistent. There’s been little praise, but also little backlash. The mode’s drastic departure from the core gameplay seems to have pushed away longtime fans, while newcomers haven’t flocked to it either. With so much else changing in Siege X, Dual Front has mostly been ignored.
Visual & Audio Changes: A Mixed Reception
Visuals
Visual changes haven’t drawn much attention—positive or negative. Some early complaints about darker map lighting were quickly offset by the addition of enemy outlines, which helped with visibility.
Audio
The new audio system has been far more polarizing. While sounds are now easier to hear overall, players are struggling with directional accuracy. In the old system, it was harder to hear footsteps, but easier to tell where they were coming from. Now it’s the opposite—and not in a good way.
Some players defend the change, suggesting it just needs time to get used to. Others argue it’s a flat-out downgrade. Whether this is growing pains or a genuine misstep remains to be seen.
Destructible Ingredients: Potential That Hasn’t Popped
Ubisoft introduced interactable elements like gas pipes and hydrants to create new tactical layers—but so far, they haven’t made much of an impact.
The standout use? Pairing a Kapkan trap with a gas pipe for a guaranteed kill. Beyond that, most players shoot out the pipes and hydrants during the prep phase just to avoid the hassle.
These features might find their place in the meta over time, but currently, they’re underused and underwhelming.
Movement, UI & Onboarding: Quiet Wins
The quality-of-life improvements have landed well:
Ping Wheel – A godsend for mic-less players
Free Rappelling – Makes map traversal smoother and more dynamic
Onboarding Enhancements – Helpful for newcomers, though largely invisible to veterans
These upgrades may not be flashy, but they’re undeniably useful.
New Ranked Pick-and-Ban: Strategic Depth with a Learning Curve
The revamped pick-and-ban system adds tactical layers to match prep and has diversified which operators get banned.
Defender Ban Tactics:
Ban hard breachers to stall attacks
Ban shields for slight peace of mind
Or simply ban whoever just wiped your team (i.e. Ash)
Attacker Ban Tactics:
Remove wall denial (Bandit, Kaid)
Ban oppressive operators like Azami or Fenrir
Target traps (Frost, Kapkan, Lesion)
Or again—ban the operator who just wrecked you last round
It’s a fun, flexible system that rewards strategic thinking—even if it's still settling into the meta.
ShieldGuard Anti-Cheat: The Biggest Letdown
The most frustrating part of Siege X has undoubtedly been ShieldGuard, Ubisoft’s new anti-cheat.
Cheaters are rampant. Reports are flooding in across all ranks, and Ubisoft has yet to publicly address the issue. To make matters worse, players are now reporting false bans—veterans getting permanently banned without explanation, with their appeals falling on deaf ears.
A new anti-cheat system was supposed to make things better. So far, it’s made them worse.
Free-to-Play Launch: Too Early to Call, but Signs Are Positive
It’s difficult to measure the full impact of going free-to-play, but Steam numbers suggest a spike in interest. For the first time in six years, June matched March player counts—usually the game’s peak month.
That could be due to the F2P shift, the marketing blitz around Siege X, or both. Either way, it’s a rare bright spot.
Veteran Rewards: Good Intentions, Flawed Delivery
Ubisoft promised legacy players a charm displaying their first play year and a unique skin for launch-day veterans. Cool in theory—but in practice, many players received incorrect rewards.
Someone who started in 2017 might get a 2019 charm. Ubisoft acknowledged the issue but hasn’t resolved it yet.
What’s Gone Wrong (So Far)
For everything promised with Siege X, you surely had to expect some things to go wrong, and Ubisoft did not disappoint on this front.
What Ubisoft Has Acknowledged:
Audio Bugs – Some players are losing audio entirely; Ubisoft tweeted about it.
Incorrect Veteran Rewards – Some charms are wrong; acknowledged but not yet fixed.
Crashes – A hotfix was issued on June 25th to address game stability. (we’ll touch on this in a sec)
Console Crossplay Toggle Missing – Console players can’t opt out of crossplay.
Glitches – Notably, a rappel glitch on Outback lets players phase through the ceiling. Ubisoft very recently acknowledged this with a tweet stating that they will be temporarily disabling Outback in game.
What Ubisoft Has Not Acknowledged:
Cheaters – Rampant cheating remains unaddressed despite endless community reports.
False Bans – Veteran players being banned unjustly, with no response to appeals.
June 25th Update
The June 25th hotfix, intended to fix a number of issues with the initial release of Siege X, caused widespread server issues. Players couldn’t queue or join lobbies during peak hours—just two days before a major Tier 3 tournament.
The Best of Siege X
Despite all the chaos, Siege X did bring one universally praised feature: Pro League skins. They look fantastic, feel unique, and have been warmly received across the community. A small but meaningful win.
What Comes Next?
Ubisoft will likely fix many of these issues—eventually. Historically, patches take longer than promised and often break new things. But if they can:
Stabilize servers,
Improve ShieldGuard,
Address the cheating epidemic,
Then Siege X might still live up to its potential.
If they continue to ignore the cheating problem, however, and let false bans go uninvestigated, the long-term future of Siege looks uncertain—and not in a good way.