Image via Ubisoft/Joao Ferrerria
There are many reasons why esports would be an ideal place for the Olympics to expand: capturing a youthful audience, reading the room on the ways that sports are changing chief among them. However, there’s not really a chance esports, or Rainbow Six Siege, become Olympic any time soon.
Why isn’t Rainbow Six Siege in the Olympics?
It’s pretty simple: Rainbow Six Siege is already an international competition, with mostly established national teams. While mixed-nationality teams exist, the majority of teams are already mostly broken up by country. The biggest thing the Olympics has going for it is its international competitions. Rainbow Six Siege, and esports in general, already have these compeitions.
The Olympics exists due to the IOC, which is its own governing body. Rainbow Six Siege already has a governing body: FACEIT and Ubisoft.
Moreover, if any esport was going to be added to the Olympics, it would likely be a non-FPS. And if it was a shooter, it’d probably be Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Siege is great, but CS is bigger and would draw more eyeballs.
What is the Rainbow Six Siege Olympics?
So there really isn’t an official Olympics event. But popular R6 content creator, SMii7Y, published a video with that title in celebration of the new-at-that-time Road to SI 2020 event. The event took place in Stadium, a map that reminded him immediately of the Olympics.
This video came after Ubisoft announced the event in a trailer of their own, which was called “The Tournament of Champions.” The first-ever Rainbow Tournament of Champions was held in Greece, similar to the Olympics. The event centered around R6 operators coming together to compete against one another while onlookers watched from the bleachers.
Rainbow Six Siege won’t be in the Olympics any time soon
There’s no shade here: Rainbow Six Siege won’t be in the Olympics, likely ever or at least in our lifetimes. That doesn’t mean it’s a dying game, or that it doesn’t have its place in the esports pantheon. It simply means that the Olympics isn’t the right avenue for esports, in general, not just Rainbow Six Siege.
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