Those excited by the 4-day closed beta of Rainbow Six: Siege taking place this week should prepare to be disappointed, as Ubisoft has not only confirmed that beta access will provided in waves, but also that users only have a 60% chance of joining a game.
This information was posted on Ubisoft’s official Rainbow Six: Siege website, with the company writing: “Players will be granted access in waves to allow us to test server stability so we can optimize the player experience during the Beta. We’ll be adding new people every day, so be sure to check your email regularly.”
The post adds: “You have about a 60% chance to start a match successfully. Average awaiting time is 60 seconds.” However, this 60 second waiting time has been disputed by users on the game’s official subreddit, with the highest voted comment reading: “More like 30 mins average wait time to get a lobby going. Then maybe one or two successfully completed matches for like 2 hours of time put in.” Ubisoft also note that once in a game, there is only a 40-50% chance that you will be able to join another game straight after that, effectively ensuring that you must keep leaving a lobby and then joining one in order to play the game.
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The limited time frame of the closed beta, not to mention the matchmaking issues it is reportedly suffering from, has led many to complain that it is being “awarded” to those who have pre-ordered the game, with many stating that they wish Ubisoft would have made the beta lengthier if they were only going to release it to players in waves, thus meaning that many won’t even get to try the beta that had led them to pre-order the game in the first place.
This has also raised some concerns about what the quality of the final game might be like. Although a beta is designed to allow the developer to iron out bugs and fix issues with a game, that Rainbow Six: Siege‘s beta appears to be suffering from problems heavy enough that they need to only allow players access in waves, not to mention that many are complaining about wait times of 30 minutes or more, suggests that unless Ubisoft does some major work to the game after its beta has closed, this could prove to have a rocky online launch come December 1st. I hope that’s not the case, but I’ve learned to be skeptical in regards to video game launches over the past couple of years, and the information surrounding doesn’t exactly fill me with hope.
