One of the classic video game debates is, “how do you determine that a title is successful?” Some go for critical acclaim, especially when it’s likely that sales won’t live up to expectations. Others are all about sales because only by getting enough sales will they be able to make more titles. But for genuinely successful games, their measurement is more about how well the game does years after launch. As in, will people keep buying the game, playing the game, and spending money within the game? So for Ubisoft, they can say that Rainbow Six Siege is still going strong based solely on their recent earnings report.

During a briefing, the team revealed that Rainbow Six Siege had crossed 85 million unique players. That doesn’t mean that the game has sold 85 million copies, but rather that over 85 million people have played it. Do recall that there have been free weekends by which players could try out the content for themselves and see if they liked it. Plus, there were ways to get it without directly purchasing it, like with Xbox Game Pass, a service many people have enjoyed.

Even with those free periods and other options, getting 85 million people to play the game is quite a feat. But the accomplishment didn’t end there. During this recent period, the game reached record numbers of in-game spending. The game has been out for seven years, yet people still spend money within it and in large amounts. That’s impressive. Specifically, the game’s revenue was up 18% over the previous year. A sizeable increase, wouldn’t you agree?

Arguably the biggest reason for the game’s sustained success is that the title consistently gets content. Whether it be through events, like the one for Halloween, or new Operators that players can try out to up their strategies, there’s always a reason to come back. Plus, the gameplay is known to be addicting. The fully destructible environments, mixed with various game modes, and the extensive roster of Operators, make it so that all matches will be different. Ubisoft made a banger of a title, and they’re reaping the rewards of it. True, they have made other games and “sequels” to it, but they know that people love this title, and they’re going to keep it running until the wheels fall off.

Given that it still has those wheels after seven years, that might take a while. To that end, Ubisoft has already promised that the 7th year of life will continue to get more content, events, and support for things like cross-play. So if you’re a veteran player, you’re one of many who dive into it almost every day. If you’re a newcomer, welcome, and you’ll be playing it for a while.

Source: GameSpot