Rainbow Six Siege to add separate Hardcore playlist in 2016
Removes most HUD elements, currently available as a pre-set Custom mode.
Rainbow Six Siege will receive a separate Hardcore playlist for those who want an extra challenge without mucking up their overall ranking.
"By having hardcore be its own playlist, we will have the liberty to have the hardcore experience that we want and that the community deserves," the developer stated on its official forum.
"We fully understand the desire for a more 'realistic' mode and want to support this at its best, without compromising the game play," Ubisoft added. "This is a priority for us in 2016."
As for what exactly the Hardcore playlist entails, that's still being determined, but we know it will involve a significantly scaled down HUD. "We want this playlist's setting choices to be built and iterated on with your help. We can confirm that we are considering minimal HUD, as well displaying mag count (vs ammo count)," the developer explained.
In the meantime, there is a prototype Hardcore mode pre-set in Custom games. These remove such pieces of HUD information as indicators for scoring, threats and frag grenades, as well as disabling the ability to see your teammates' outline.
Ubisoft noted that the only reason a Hardcore playlist isn't already in effect is because it's still trying to sort out the parameters of what such a playlist would entail. So far it's using the aforementioned Hardcore Custom mode as a baseline, but will iterate based on feedback so it doesn't split the audience over a minor detail or two.
"We want time to build it properly and we want to avoid extra player segmentation that would not be absolutely necessary," the developer explained. "What we want to avoid is creating a playlist or mode that does not have enough population, which would consequently have a negative impact on matchmaking and the overall experience of the game."
The developer also noted that Casual and Ranked playlists will feature the same HUD after a title update shortly.
"We are convinced that Casual and Ranked experiences should be as close and consistent as possible," Ubisoft said of this impending change. "Players of Casual matches should feel welcome to try a more 'competitive' playlist and get a rating for their performances, without having to re-learn or re-adapt to new settings. Similarly, Ranked players should feel compelled to launch in Casual, either to play without 'ladder anxiety' or just to try out a new strategy or Operator. For these reasons we are re-synching HUD on Ranked and Casual."
For more on Rainbow Six Siege, our Martin Robinson spoke highly of it in his review, even if he couldn't quite recommend it to anyone based on its dearth of content and steep accessibility that involves organising a group of friends to play with. "If you're able to pull together a squad of friends, and able to make the plans necessary to see this at its best, there's nothing quite like it," Martin said in his Rainbow Six Siege review. "Measured, tactical and frequently surprising, Rainbow Six Siege is one of the best multiplayer experiences of the year - but it comes at a cost."
