Update as of 21 November 2018, 08:55:

Just a few weeks ago, Ubisoft announced that it would be changing certain aspects of Rainbow Six Siege to adapt them to the strict censorship conditions in China, so that nothing would stand in the way of a release there. But this did not meet with the approval of the players, as you can read in the news and the update below.

But no censorship

On the official blog of the publisher, a text was now published that Ubisoft now still withdraws these changes. With the update Y3S4, so to Year 3, – Season 4, these censorships are now to be reversed. The changes will come in the course of the upcoming Wild Bastion update.

Originally, many small changes were planned. Some examples: Instead of a skull icon, a body was to be registered, with an X crossing it out. Melee icons were also to be changed from a knife to a fist for the Chinese market. Since gambling is banned in many Asian countries, vending machines should also disappear. With the upcoming update, they want to undo as many of the changes as they can.

What about China

What About China According to Ubisoft’s posting, gamers in Asia should be able to have the same gaming experience as all other R6S gamers. However, this doesn’t explain what’s happening with the China version now, as Ubisoft only introduced these changes to comply with the regulations of releasing a game in China. There is no final answer yet, but we will keep you updated as soon as Ubisoft comments again.

Update from November 6, 2018, 15:08:

Although Ubisoft has since clarified that they will only be making cosmetic changes to Rainbox Six Siege, fans are still pissed. Since the announcement on November 3, 2018, negative reviews on Steam have risen into the triple digits. Ubisoft is accused of submitting to censorship in China and thus supporting an anti-human system. Others fear that cheaters will now get the upper hand in the game – although it has already been confirmed that there will be region locks.

While the reviews on Steam are mostly positive, lately they are only balanced, and further down Steam even warns that the game has recently been given a “high number of negative reviews” receives. The situation has not calmed down on Reddit either. In a large-scale thread, user jimwillfixit complains that the game is now being brought up to the standards of a country everywhere, where “many offenses against humanity have been committed”.

They also don’t like the fact that maps are slightly changed. “The foundation and overall feel of Siege is supposed to be violent. You can expect references to murders, terrorism, drug abuse and violence.”, he writes. And gambling is apparently also an integral part of the game for him. He especially regrets that a casino map as a tribute to Rainbox Six Vegas is now probably finally out of the world.

However, there are also conciliatory voices in the Rainbow Six Siege community. Professional gamer G2 Pengu praises the changes, saying they promote more cultural diversity and make the game accessible to more people. He emphasizes on Twitter, that he does not understand the excitement, “it concerns you after all in no way.” And his Team Captain Fabian supplemented: “You’re losing something that you didn’t even know you had before, so one-armed bandits on a wall or blood on a wall, that’s not a big deal.”