Rainbow Six is one of the main esports disciplines of Ubisoft. The stage has been changed over the whole time of its existence. If the competitive ecosystem consisted of numerous side tournaments, recently the developers accepted a unified system with common elements.

The Rainbow Six discipline consists of regional leagues, majors and the final Six Invitational at the end of the season.

During the year, there are three regional splits in four regions: Europe, North America, Asia, Latin America. Sometimes organizers divide Asia into North and South, but it is more common to hold a single tournament for all teams of the region.

If in Europe and North America a single tournaments is held, the other regions have additional leagues. For example, Latin America organizes events for Brazil, Mexico and other countries of South America. Meanwhile, Asia is divided into North and South where the best teams come from to compete at the final of the split.

The results of all regional splits define participants in the LAN major. Usually the tournament takes place in Europe or North America welcoming four participants from each region.

The season is held at three splits and three majors as a result of which teams are awarded with rating points that define the participants in the Six Invitational final.

Twenty teams take part in the Six Invitational, sixteen out of them are defined by invitations based on the rating. Besides, at the end of the season organizers hold four qualifiers for the tournament for each of the regions to make up the final lineup of participants in the Six Invitational.

Usually the tournaments take place in Montreal, Canada, but in 2022 and 2021 the venues of the Six Invitational tournaments were Stockholm, Sweden and Paris, France.

The future of the competitive ecosystem of Rainbow Six

In the new season, Ubisoft together with the operator BLAST will change the competitive ecosystem of Rainbow Six. From now on, the route will resemble the franchise which will keep a slot for participants from the open qualifiers.

One season is divided into two splits and each of them will end up with a familiar major. The first split will take place in spring that will be followed by the mid-season. The second split will be played in the autumn and will terminate with another mid-season. However, the season will still end with the Six Invitational.

The new global esports route of Rainbow Six consists of nine regions:

• Europe
• North America
• Brazil
• Japan
• South Korea
• Latin America
• Asia
• Oceania
• Middle East

In all regions apart from Asia, Oceania, Middle East and Africa, South Korea and Latin America, ten teams will be competing. There are eight teams in South Korea and Latin America, and the number of contestants from Asia, Oceania and Middle East will be defined before the beginning of the season.

The closed system will work in all main regions providing the slots for the specific number of teams. Nevertheless, each region will hold an open qualifying tournament.

The changes will also affect the format of majors. From now on, tournaments will include a new stage which will be held before the group stage and the playoff giving them a chance to increase the number of participants.

Also, during the mid-season, Ubisoft will open a chance for third-party tournament operators that will organize their tournaments beyond the main competitive route of Rainbow Six.

Prize pool of Rainbow Six tournaments

Each regional split offers participants a separate prize pool and also rating points. For example, in North America each split offers the participants $50,000, while in Europe the participants share €50,000. In Latin America, teams fight for around $55,000 (depending on the exchange rates), and in Asia contestants fight for a prize of $41,000.

Nevertheless, the distribution of rating point is identical in each region:

• 1-4 place: 225 points + a slot to the major
• 5 place: 225 points
• 6 place: 180 points
• 7 place: 140 points
• 8 place: 115 points

The next stage for each team is the major. At each similar tournaments organizers offer a prize pool of $500,000, and rating points for each participant:

• 1 place: 375 points
• 2 place: 300 points
• 3-4 place: 230 points
• 5-8 place: 165 points
• 9-12 place: 105 points
• 13-16 place: 50 points

At the final Six Invitational, the participant fight for a starting prize pool of $500,000, which increases with the help of selling Battle Pass in the game itself. For instance, over the last three years the prize pool of the tournament has been equal to $3,000,000.

Participants get a specific percentage from the prize pool depending of their total results:

• 1 place: 33,3%
• 2 place: 15%
• 3 place: 8%
• 4 place: 5,67%
• 5-6 place: 4,5%
• 7-8 place: 3,42%
• 9-12 place: 2,5%
• 13-16 place: 1,83%
• 17-20 place: 1,16%