On November 30, 2024, six months after Ubisoft released the first Membership drop in Rainbow Six Siege, we wrote an article explaining why the Membership was a great concept and why it was fairly priced.
As a player who paid for a yearly Membership in May 2024, which was around USD$80, I was mostly satisfied. After all, the four Battle Passes included already covered half of the price I paid. I thought Warden and Buck's Legendary collections were great, with Doc's and Nomad's being worth a shout too. On top of that, the animated operator card backgrounds, which were exclusive to Membership players, made the Membership feel even more appealing. Of course, let's not forget about the 10% shop discount, which made it easier for me to acquire some other bundles, like Elite and R6 Share collections.
On paper, paying a minimum of USD$80 a year for a Membership that includes 12 Epic Bundles, 4 Legendary Bundles, 4 Battle Passes, animated skins, packs, Battle Pass tiers, and a shop discount will always make Siege X's Membership worth the money paid.
However, despite the skins and benefits that Membership players get, the opinions about the Membership have been rough recently. While I don't think complaining about the price is fair, there's something that can't be questioned: the Siege Membership is getting outdated. The biggest problems right now are a clear lack of exclusivity, a downgrade in the visual quality of bundles, and, overall, the evolution of skins in Rainbow Six Siege X.
Here's a look at each one of them and some solutions to improve the quality of the Rainbow Six Siege X Membership:
Lack of exclusivity
The two main issues in this year's Membership are clear to us: there's a big lack of exclusivity and uniqueness. While this may sound a bit harsh, it feels insulting to see Membership items in the Marketplace for just a few hundreds of R6 Credits.
At the time of writing, the most expensive Membership cosmetic available in Siege X's Marketplace is the Neon Noir animated operator card background, which was last sold for 400 R6 Credits. The second most expensive Membership cosmetic is the Warden Techno Operative uniform, which was last sold for 270 R6 Credits. The rest of Membership skins can be acquired for around 100 R6 Credits or even less.
Quality of monthly bundles
It's fair to say the quality of the monthly bundles has took a nosedive recently. While the quality of these bundles has always been a bit questionable, with some of them being literal adaptations of previous collections, some of the first monthly bundles, like Castle, Mute, and Thorn's, were quite good. Now, for some reason, we're getting a lot of "sea" bundles; including the Smoke Jellyfish Bundle, the Lesion Greek Coast Bundle, the Thermite Jellyfish Bundle, and, this month, the Iana Jellyfish Bundle.
Logically, players shouldn't expect Ubisoft to always drop a great monthly bundle. But, what's going on with all of these Jellyfish Bundles? At this point, after three jellyfish collections, the complaints are understandable.
For instance, Castle's spooky collection, which came in October (Halloween), including a cute charm of a spider and a Castle Panel, or Thorn's punk collection, which brought up a bit of lore, are what we believe players should find in monthly bundles: collections that are unique and are solid options to use, not uncommon skins dressed as Epic cosmetics.
Overall evolution of skins in Rainbow Six Siege X
The quality of the monthly bundles goes hand-in-hand with the next point: the overall evolution of skins in Rainbow Six Siege X.
I think, in terms of skins, people ignore how much Ubisoft has improved. Within the last year and a half, Ubisoft released animated operator card backgrounds, operator badges, and a new skin category (Mythical). Drone skins are also a very recent concept too. Since the release of Siege X, Ubisoft has transformed the R6 Share Program, added new types of bundles — like Jynxzi's MVP Bundle or the Siege Esports Legacy Set — and even released a Siege X Pack with a "cyberpunk" style bundle for Ash.
In other words, Ubisoft has set the bar really high, and, the truth is that a bunch of jellyfish bundles won't do the job anymore. Maybe a couple or three years ago, but not now. If players pay USD$80, some of them more, for a Membership, the quality of the skins and items included should evolve along the quality of the rest of skins released to the game — otherwise the players' interest for the Membership will go down.
What should Ubisoft do to make Membership more appealing?
To make the Rainbow Six Siege X Membership more appealing, we think Ubisoft should first consider the three aspects previously mentioned. Here are some of our suggestions to improve the Membership system in Siege X:
Remove Membership items from Ubisoft's Marketplace
Making the Membership drops exclusive to Membership players is vital, so we think Membership items shouldn't be tradeable in Ubisoft's Marketplace. This is an arguament a lot of content creators use on social media nowadays: why would you pay USD$10 a month or USD$80 a year if you can get the cosmetics for a bunch of R6 Credits? So, making Membership items exclusive to Membership players would be a decent first step.
Adding operator badges in Siege X's Membership
Thinking outside of the box is crucial, and Siege X's Membership isn't an exception. In 2024, Ubisoft's Membership stood out for multiple reasons, one of them being the previously mentioned animated operator card backgrounds. Until Operation Daybreak's Battle Pass — so, until Siege X was released — the only way to have an animated operator card background was being a Membership player. Now, it feels like animated operator card backgrounds will be just another cosmetic.
To keep the Siege X Membership special, Ubisoft should come up with new types of cosmetics; and, for 2025, a good attempt to do so would be releasing monthly operator badges. Right now, these can only be claimed by completing certain in-game objectives. However, the Siege X Pack taught us that adding commemorative badges is on the cards. So, why couldn't Ubisoft include unique operator badges in monthly Membership drops?
In 2026, Ubisoft should think of something else. As, by then, it will be a year since the release of the first Mythical skin, we could see Ubisoft giving Membership players a Mythical skin every three months. Maybe even Mythical drone skins, or something even crazier. In 2027, Ubisoft should make yet another step forward, and maybe bring, who knows, new operator icons! At this point, we're just brainstorming.
Improving the overall quality of monthly bundles
As briefly mentioned earlier, at this point, monthly bundles look like uncommon items dressed up as Epic skins. Ubisoft must improve the overall quality of monthly bundles. A good, easy, and likely effective way to do so would be adding some lore to the bundles.
For instance, Dokkaebi could get a bundle in which her glasses are cracked, as a reference to the Assault on Hereford event. At the end of the day, a big number of players acquire the Membership not only to stand out, but also because they love the game. Mixing lore with skins is always a good idea.
More benefits
While Membership players already get plenty of benefits (monthly bundle, packs, legendary skins, in-game discounts) extra benefits are always nice and would definetely make the Membership more appealing.
Here are some suggestions of benefits that could be considered:
- More Bravo Packs: An easy way to make the Membership a bit more profitable to players would be adding more Bravo Packs and Alpha Packs to the Membership monthly drop.
- Larger discount in R6 Share cosmetics: A larger discount in R6 Share cosmetics could make Membership players who are into esports spend more money on the R6 Share program. Those who aren't into esports could end up purchasing those skins, attracted by the larger discount, and eventually get into esports, which could help them become regular watchers.
- Larger discount in Event Packs: With the Rengoku Event being just around the corner, it seems like the event's Memento weapon skin will be a Mythical. If this isn't an exception and future events also include Mythical memento skins, we think Ubisoft should think about giving Membership players a larger discount in Event Packs. After all, if the Memento is a Mythical skin, it's likely more players end up spending money to unlock the cosmetic.
- Exclusive gadget skins: Keeping in mind exclusivity, Ubisoft could add exclusive gadget skins. Right now, the only way to customize operator gadgets is purchasing their Elite Bundles.
In conclusion, we believe the Membership is great. It already gives so much, but the quality of the items included must be improved. It's not about what's in the drop, it's about its quality and exclusivity. Keeping these two aspects in mind is crucial for the Membership's success.
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