Despite rumours to the contrary, a new Rainbow 6 title is currently in development at Ubisoft, though the studio has stated that the game will be a ways away from Rainbow 6: Patriots, which was originally announced back in 2011. In an interview with IGN, Laurent Detoc, the studio’s US president, explained the reasoning behind the game’s innate complications.
“We had a core team. They had a good vision. They got started, and then the game wasn’t working. So [they had] to start again,” Detoc explained. “There’s an editorial group in Ubisoft, a big group, very influential. If the game is not good enough, they say it’s not good enough. Most of the time, the team will say, ‘yeah, I know.’ But sometimes they want to continue in a direction where you say, ‘no, it’s not going to work.’”
The squad-based title was set to take place in New York, where a terrorist group called the ‘True Patriots’ — who bear no affiliation Metal Gear Solid’s secret organisation, mind you — threatened to occupy the Big Apple. As a matter of fact, Ubisoft stated at E3 that players would be able to control these earnest villains in some capacity, though its unclear whether this feature will make the final, final cut.
In truth, Rainbow 6: Patriots has experienced its fair share of internal turbulence since it was unveiled. In March of last year, the development team was overhauled, which effectively lead to David Sears and Richard Rouse III — creative director and narrative director, respectively — being removed from the project. This led to GameStop cancelling all pre-orders for the game, before the outlet removed the tactical shooter from the database.
Nevertheless, Detoc believes that the next generation of consoles provides Ubisoft with the perfect platform to retune its vision for Rainbow 6: Patriots.
“Rainbow had to be remade,” he added. “Now they’re going to have the benefit of the new consoles, if and when it comes out. It’s one of those examples where you try, it doesn’t work, you try again. If it doesn’t work, we’re not going to bring it to you.”
It’s always disappointing for a game to receive an indefinite delay, particularly one from the studio’s Tom Clancy-branded franchise. Although, judging by Detoc’s statement, it seems there may be light at the end of the tunnel for Ubisoft’s morally astute Rainbow 6: Patriots after all.