Joshua Mills admits Rainbow Six Siege will treat players like "kings and queens" when GTA 6 comes out

Rainbow Six Siege's Year 11 Season 3 has just began as Operation Split Fire was launched to the game in the first week of September; therefore, thinking about the upcoming season is still too premature. However, it's fair to say Year 11 Season 4 brings a challenge never seen before in Ubisoft's offices—the release of GTA 6.

GTA 6 is expected to take over the video game industry when Rockstar's long-awaited title releases on November 19. Four days later, the BLAST R6 Major Osaka will come to an end as the grand final will be played on November 15. It will also be then when Ubisoft reveal Year 11 Season 4 to the whole world. The season is expected to be released in the first week of December 2026.

Normally, the volume of players in Rainbow Six Siege during the last weeks of a season tends to be lower than usual. For instance, in July 2026, the monthly average of players on PC playing Rainbow Six Siege was 51,291, a -17,94% gain compared to the previous month, according to Steam Charts. In August 2026, there was a +18.14% gain, and, so far in September 2026, there has been a +7.23% gain. With Wasteland Circuit being launched today, we expect the numbers to go even higher.

Although the numbers may look green now (and will look potentially even greener in the weeks to come) it's fair to say that, as Operation Split Fire's hype fades away, the numbers will slowly go down—which is understandable and, up to some point, fine.

However, the launch of GTA 6 could seriously hit Rainbow Six Siege's numbers when the game releases in the third week of November. By then, Rainbow Six Siege players will know about Ubisoft's plans for Year 11 Season 4 as these will be shared in Osaka, Japan, in November 15. Ubisoft's strategy will likely be creating as much hype as possible so players come back to the game when the new season launches, which will happen around a fortnight after GTA 6's release.

Until recently, we had no words from Ubisoft about their plans regarding the arrival of GTA 6, a title that the video game's community has been waiting for over 13 years. Finally, we have got an answer.

In an interview for The Game Business, Rainbow Six Siege's Creative Director Joshua Mills admitted that Rainbow Six Siege will treat players "like kings and queens" when GTA 6 comes out.

"We have got a big one coming this year which is GTA. Obviously, it doesn't matter what genre you're in; you're going to get hit when that drops. So, you have to think ahead and be like, okay, bring your expectations in line with what's going to go on there, people will go there and play and come back, and stuff like this, all of us are going to play."

"As far as that goes it's being smart about your expectations during that window. The team is affected by the same thing so if they see that our players are going down or whatnot, they can get almost an anxiety about that as well, but it's all temporary generally speaking because we know the core is there."

"The one rule we have is to act as if, for those who stay connected the whole time, serve them like kings and queens, make sure that they constantly have what it is that we offer and make sure that we serve them to the best of our ability. We don't go on vacation because there's a competitor that's swelling the market for a second, we double down and serve as best as we can during that time and get even more during that time just to make sure that everyone who's spending their most valuable resource, time, is rewarded for spending it with us."

The impact of GTA 6 will surely be felt in Rainbow Six Siege; however, the truth is that the timing is almost perfect. The final couple of weeks of a season are always low—and those two will be when GTA 6's hype will be at its peak. With no online features available in the game until next year, it certainly gives Ubisoft a small window to work with. In fact, given that the Rainbow Six Siege esports circuit goes into a break in December 2026, the option of postponing Year 11 Season 4's release to the second week of December makes sense. Although that's unlikely, the idea could be on the table as we speak.

Finally, it's also worth mentioning that Rainbow Six Siege's anniversary is on December 1, which is when the game was released worldwide. Last year, for the game's 10th anniversary, Ubisoft created a special game mode and gave players free rewards for simply logging in the game. We could see Ubisoft taking a similar approach this time, just to keep the community engaged.

All in all, while GTA 6's release certainly presents difficult challenges in the industry, it feels like Ubisoft have plenty of possibilities to reduce its impact. Launching a new season will likely motivate players as they would have to grind the game again to get back to their desired rank. Introducing a game mode to celebrate the game's anniversary would keep the numbers high. Fortunately, Ubisoft has got a say.

For more information about Rainbow Six Siege and its esports scene, make sure to check out Siege.GG.