The upcoming release ofRainbow Six Extractionis intriguing in multiple ways. Obviously, that it’s a cooperative first-person shooter a la Left 4 Dead is particularly exciting. However, also alluring isRainbow Six Extraction’s unique relationship withRainbow Six Siege, asSiege’s Operator protagonists will also be playable inExtraction. It seems that relationship is perhaps even deeper than implied, as it’s now confirmed thatRainbow Six Extractionwon’t feature any new Operators of its own.
Speaking with The Loadout,Rainbow Six Extractiongame director Patrik Méthé confirmed the limitation. Méthé explains thatRainbow Six Extractionwill only featureOperators that already exist inRainbow Six Siege. He states that the current roster ofRainbow Six SiegeOperators that are already available make for “more than enough options,” in order to “cover all the angles.” It isn’t exactly clear what covering all the angles means, but it’s likely meant to imply that there isn’t anything that they want to do that would require new Operators.
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That doesn’t mean that that the team at Ubisoft didn’t consider adding new Operators, however. Méthé mentions discussing the possibility early on. He says that the team had “some discussion” but that they ultimately decided against it. The idea being that implementing existingSiegeOperators into aPvE experiencewould be the “best way to add new layers of lore” and to “shine new light on them.” In other words, Méthé sees it as a way to grow the existing story and lore fromRainbow Six Siege.
Oddly enough, however, Méthé reiterated thatRainbow Six Extractionwon’t expand onRainbow Six Siege’s canon, officially.Rainbow Six Extractionis an alternate universe story. It’s a non-canon game, which allows Ubisoft to tellExtraction’s sci-fi storywithout the implications of messing with whatRainbow Six Siegeis doing. Still, that makes Méthé’s comments about exploringSiege’s Operator’s lore someone odd.
There are a lot of clear benefits to usingSiege’s Operators that Méthé isn’t explaining. It lets Ubisoft useSiege’s already existing gameplay forExtraction, which dramatically cuts down the team’s design and development time necessary. Picking a limited number ofOperators fromSiege’s ever-growing rosteralso helps, or as Méthé describes, certain Operators were a “natural fit for this kind of setting.”
TheRainbow Six Extractionteam won’t be copy/pastingSiege’s Operators, however. While usingSiege’s Operators will make some things easier, theExtractionteam will still be optimizing those Operators to theExtractionexperience. Abilities will be altered and expanded, and the Operators will be seen in an entirely different way.Rainbow Sixfans will see for themselves soon.
Rainbow Six Extractionreleases September 16 on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
