Ubisoft Moves Rainbow Six Siege Event Out Of United Arab Emirates After Backlash

Ubisoft has announced plans to make a change to the upcoming Rainbow Six: Siege esports season just two days after revealing them, as one of the host countries raised the ire of the community.

Ubisoft's plans for Year 7 of Rainbow Six Siege included a planned major tournament to be hosted in the United Arab Emirates, which immediately drew backlash due to the country's controversial stance on LGBTQ+-related issues. Ubisoft confirmed via the official Rainbow Six Esports Twitter account that the event will indeed be moved after receiving the feedback.

"We hear loud and clear that members of the international Siege community question this choice," the tweet reads, "and we have taken the decision to move the Six Major of August 2022 to another Rainbow Six Esports region."

An online petition was drafted calling on Ubisoft to change the August major's location, gathering nearly 14,000 signatures before Ubisoft made the decision public. The petition laid out the community's problems with UAE being named the August host, saying the nation has "documented serious LGBTQ+ right issues in the past year, criminalising homosexuality resulting in floggings, fines, deportation, chemical castration, forced conversion therapy, honour killings, vigilante execution and more."

The 2021 Rainbow Six Siege competitive season ended this past weekend with the Six Invitational 2021, which saw North America's Team SoloMid hoist Sledge's Hammer in victory over Russia's Team Empire in the Grand Finals. The in-game Year 7 content will roll out across four seasons, with operators hailing from Japan, Belgium, Singapore, and Colombia respectively.