Image: Ubisoft/Kirill Bashkirov
XSET today released a statement announcing their departure from the Rainbow Six Siege scene. This comes after a BLIX.GG report that its roster is set to sign with M80, the new organization created by former XSET COO and co-founder Marco Mereu.
M80 was unveiled less than two weeks ago, on Dec. 9, with Mereu having left XSET in Aug. 2022. The organization signed its first team in VALORANT, with the XSET Rainbow Six and Rocket League rosters reportedly its next targets.
With the move, M80 will also presumably take over XSET's NAL license.
The XSET organization entered the Rainbow Six scene in 2021 with the signing of the RentFree roster on Feb. 22. But the team struggled and was relegated from the NAL at the end of the 2021 season, prompting XSET to return in 2022 with an all-new Brazilian-majority roster.
This new lineup found immediate success with a quarter-final finish at the Charlotte Major and semi-final finish at the Berlin Major, where it lost to eventual champions Rogue. It also qualified for the Six Invitational 2023 as a result, despite a disappointing eighth-place finish in Stage 3 of the NAL.
XSET coach Matheus "Budega" Figueiredo was suspended for 12 months on the first day of the Charlotte Major playoffs after breaching "the Rainbow Six Circuit Global Rulebook on multiple occasions" and "engaging in major misconduct".
The organization was fined $5,000 as well, but Budega kept his place in the team as the suspension only meant that he could not be on stage during the Major and NAL. As such, he could still coach the team in an off-stage capacity.
Despite the suspension, the team recovered -- as evidenced by its Berlin Major run and SI 2023 qualification. Now, it will set its sights on the world championship event in Feb. 2022 that it will play under a new banner.