10. Is Rainbow Six Siege Cross-play?

Yes, though it only became available in 2021 and it still has a lot of limitations. Currently, cross-play is only available within the same family of consoles. Meaning, PC players can only have cross-play matches with Stadia players, and PS4/5 can only have multiplayer cross-play matches with Xbox players and vice versa. In June 2021, Luna was included among the platforms that PC will have cross-play with, but currently, only cross-play with Stadia has been implemented.

To make it very clear:

Can PC players play with Stadia players and vice versa? Yes.

Can PS4/5 players play Xbox players and vice versa? Yes.

Can PS4 players play with PS5 players and vice versa? Yes.

Can Xbox One players play with Xbox Series X|S players and vice versa? Yes.

Can PS4/5 or Xbox players play with PC or Stadia players? No.

9. Cross-progression

Cross-progression means that your progress will be reflected on your account even if you switch to a different platform, as long as they belong to the same family. Cross-progression is currently only available for PC and Stadia, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, and between Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. You will have to make sure that the same Ubisoft account that you’re using is linked to your account on the supported platform that you’ll be playing on for the cross-progression to work. 

8. Can cross-play be disabled?

If you do not want to be matched with players from different platforms for various reasons, you can safely and easily disable cross-play. Just head over to the main menu, head over to the settings, select general, and scroll down until you find cross-play matchmaking and cross-play communication. Turn off both of them and you won’t be matched with other players from other supported platforms anymore.

However, be aware that turning cross-play off can negatively affect the quality and speed of matchmaking. I personally recommend that you leave this on. Ubisoft has taken great care that the supported platforms are selected from a place of fairness. That’s why there’s no cross-play between PC and consoles.

7. Will Rainbow Six Siege Mobile have cross-play?

The Rainbow Six Siege Mobile version is still very new, and if you’ve tried it, you’d know that it’s very different from the PC and Console versions. The graphics are different, the available operators are different, even the gameplay and gadgets work are different, with many things that are familiar of course. So, for now, it is safe to say that there won’t be a cross-play for Mobile to Console or to PC.

If Ubisoft is very reluctant to implement cross-play between Consoles and PC, then it’s safe to assume that there won’t be cross-play for Mobile. At least not anytime soon.

6. Future of Cross-play in Rainbow Six Siege

It has been a year since Ubisoft announced the implementation of cross-play to Siege, and since then have made great progress when it comes to connecting platforms. Therefore, we can expect that in the near future, cross-progression will also be available to all platforms. However, do not expect that there will be a cross-play between PC and Console, because Ubisoft is very careful about the issue of fairness between mouse and keyboard vs controllers. 

However, and this is unsolicited advice, Ubisoft can explore the idea of matching PC and Console players together as long as they are all using gamepads, or keyboard and mouse. That is something that Ubisoft can explore since game companies can have access to players’ hardware information anyway.

5. Why is it important for Rainbow Six Siege to have cross-play matches?

The biggest reason is to connect more people with one another. Imagine if you and your best friend are both Siege players, but it just so happens that he plays on Xbox and you play on PlayStation. That would really suck, but because there is now cross-play, even with its limitations, friends owning different platforms can now play with each other. This also allows Siege to have a bigger community and attract new players to the game.

And because cross-play matches bring more players together, it effectively improves the speed of matchmaking. The more players available and queuing for a match, the faster a match can be found. This is a great help for players like me who play during the wee hours of the morning, when understandably, fewer players are available compared to peak hours.

4. How to Change Data Centers/Servers in Siege (PC)

Now that cross-play is available in Siege, it is even more important for all players to know how to change their servers, for various reasons. I, for one, had to change my server to Southeast Asia from my default server, East Asia, because of language barriers. It’s just simply easier for me to find other English speakers on the Southeast Asia server than my default server. Some people change servers simply because of connectivity reasons.

In order to change your server in Siege, PC version, you only have to head to My Documents, find the folder named My Games, open the Rainbow Six Siege folder, and find the folder belonging to your account. If there are more than one Siege account that logs in your PC, then there will be more than one folder. Once you determined the folder belonging to your account, open it and you will find a file named GameSettings.ini

Open GameSettings.ini and scroll down to the bottom. You’ll find DataCenterHint=default. Above that, there would be a list of server names. Select the server that you want to play on and replace ‘default’ with your selected server’s name. For example: DataCenterHint=playfab/japaneast

3. How to Change Data Centers/Servers in Siege (Console)

Unfortunately, it is very hard to change data centers/servers in Siege console. There used to be tricks on how to change it, but they don’t work anymore. Currently, the best way to change your server in console is to use a VPN. The problem is, using VPN, especially free ones, can slow down your connection. The good news is, as long as your ping is below 100, the game would be playable. 

So, if you want to play with an overseas friend, you can use a VPN and enjoy the game together. I even played with my brother who lives on the opposite side of the world, and my ping was around 200, and I could notice how heavy the game feels, but the game was still very playable and enjoyable.

2. Privacy in Multiplayer

Ubisoft has recently implemented a number of options for players to protect their privacy when going into multiplayer matches. Players now have the option to Appear as Nickname wherein they can type in the nickname that they want, and that’s what will appear to other players in the match. And there are also new settings for Siege streamers to add some more layer of privacy to their streams.

Now, you can select to appear only as “You”, hide your avatar, rename other players, hide matchmaking delay, and hide your region and latency. This is really useful for streamers who want to avoid being stream sniped, or to avoid being stalked and doxxed.  

1. Game Modes in Multiplayer

There are five playlists on Siege’s multiplayer mode, which is what the game is all about anyway, and they are Newcomer, Deathmatch, Quick Match, Unranked, and Ranked. Newcomer is supposedly for newbies, but let’s face the reality, it’s full of smurfs. However, the intention of the playlist is for newbies, below level 10, to compete with other newbies and learn from one another. It also has fewer maps in its pool in order to help new players familiarize themselves with the maps.

Deathmatch is the newest multiplayer mode in the game. This is a Battlefield or COD style multiplayer mode where players can respawn almost immediately after getting killed. The intention for this game mode is for it to be a warm up session before players step up to more competitive playlists. 

Quick Match, formerly known as Casual, is basically what the Casual name implies. It features the original mechanics of Siege wherein if you die, you’ll stay dead until the next round. But unlike Unranked or Ranked, this game mode doesn’t have any consequences where you quit the game or lose. It is indeed very casual, though of course, expect to meet sweaty players even there.

Unranked is basically the training ground for Ranked. It features the same mechanics as Ranked, but you won’t lose or gain any mmr whether you lose or win a match. And Ranked is the most competitive playlist in the game because bragging rights are involved. In ranked, you lose or gain mmr depending on the result of your match, and your mmr determines your rank and whether you will have that shiny gold, platinum, or diamond icon beside your name. And if you’re great enough, you can even claim the champion title.

Attention operator, please be advised. There is a new directive from Six. Read up on these related articles, and prepare for deployment:

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