Ubisoft Inaugurates Rainbow Six North American League
- Rainbow Six North American League becomes the new competitive format in the region
- The league will be divided between the US Division and Canadian Division with two feeder leagues each
- Ubisoft continues to push R6 as a competitive video game, and there is the viewership numbers to back it
The Rainbow Six North American League is back as the official successor of the Rainbow Six Pro League and well in line with Ubisoft’s plans to keep R6 as one of the viable competitive titles today. The move began back in 2019 when the company announced a big prize update for R6 events, and boldly expanded into new regions.
Today, we continue to witness the unfolding of this. Yet, the Rainbow Six Pro League did fetch its own bit of controversy, which has additionally prompted Ubisoft to seek a fresh beginning.
On April 14, Kian “Hyena” Mozayani of Luminosity Gaming released a social media barrage which vituperated against how Ubisoft had left Luminosity without a spot in the Pro League.
The scandal inspired Ubisoft to re-imagine the format and offer a path-to-pro and easy-to-follow schedules across most regions, North American being no exception, of course.
A New Beginning for R6 in North America
The 2020/2021, the North American League’s first will run in four different divisions. The US Division has the current top-guns – Spacestation Gaming who won the Six Invitational 2020, claiming the heftiest chunk of the $3 million prize pool.
Meanwhile, the Canadian Division offers spots for four teams and all games will be played online throughout the season. There are two Challenger Divisions for both main divisions in a bid to incentivize rookies into making their way to the top.
Similar to other competitions, there will be a promotion/relegation match played at the end of each year, giving semi-professionals an opportunity to transition to the main league. Thanks to the re-imagined format, fans will enjoy R6 esports all throughout the year, making for very exciting times if you are fan of the game.
In 2021, matches will kick off in March and the calendar will be all spruced up with major competitions in May, August and November. As always, the Rainbow Six Invitational will be held in February.
As to the 2020 season, keep in mind that the above image is not entirely accurate. The May major won’t happen. Meanwhile, shooters, such as Rainbow Six are growing during the COVID-19 lockdown, VentureBeat said in a recent article.
Valorant, Riot Games’ new FPS/fantasy game has also been clocking some serious viewership mileage. One thing is certain – video games and esports are nowhere near done in growing exponentially.
