From phasing out tactical planning, to underground LANs, a discarded project and now 45 Million players and counting, Rainbow Six's history has been one of the most interesting in the shooter and tactical multiplayer space. We managed to chat with the current Rainbow Six Siege team to explore that very history in a revealing and in-depth analysis of the series' impact in gaming.

This is must-read content.

Recently our very own Nathan Lawrence was invited out to Ubisoft Montreal to cover the Six Invitational. We asked for one better -- can we speak to the team about the history of Rainbow Six and even probe what it means to each of them? The answer was a firm yes, and the outcome is a piece for the historical ages.

Here's a snippet:

Rose-tinted nostalgia is one thing, but that doesn’t change the fact that both Marquis and I remember how the complicated systems sometimes got in the way of the fun in Rainbow Six. “It’s maybe not the best memory, but I remember that, ‘Oh, fuck, it’s complicated to open a door without starting an alert. Oh, fuck. Everyone knows! I’m dead.’

"This is my first memory.”

But that complexity also tied into an awesome part of the tension of what made the original Rainbow Six so compelling. “But I remember this tension of putting the rope of explosives around the lock. I was like, ‘Oh, my God, it’s so good. And it’s starting. The action is already engaging.’ And it was something different. Before, when I played Quake and Doom, it was mainly roaming and shooting. Boom! Only reflexes.


“With Rainbow Six you have time to make decisions. You’re already in the game, but you’re not in a fight, which was not common for a shooter. Shooters, in general, are just roam and shoot. And here you have the time to put a strategy in place. Start the strategy. That’s it.”

Click here for our in-depth walk down Rainbow Six (and early shooter) memory lane.