While game journalist applaud the game’s transition to a more diverse roster, Siege’s transient playerbase is less enthused, citing the character’s similarity to previous operators
Ubisoft’s multiplayer tactical third-person shooter Rainbow Six Siege has added a transgender operator to the game, whose ability revolves around transforming maps by deploying transparent portable shields that they transport on their person around the map. Corporate game journalists are transfixed in admiration for the new character, who is the first transgender operator in the game.
PC Gamer reports that the new character Osa, “brings a gadget to her team that the defenders would probably love to steal: redeployable, transparent, waist-high bulletproof walls that can attach to windows, doorways, or anywhere on the ground,” with the author claiming that the character could become their new main in the game. The article notes that the character is voiced by a transgender voice actor, and that “Siege’s roster has become more diverse in recent years, which feels like a win for a game that began with a very white, male-dominated roster.”
Game art director Alexander Karpazis declared, “We haven’t kept it a secret, the Rainbow team is diverse. And we quite frankly love that inclusivity, that representation where anybody can come into the game and find somebody that they can relate to, want to play, and can see as a role model. Osa is just that, another operator that comes from a diverse background.”
Corporate journalists across Twitter gushed over the character, claiming Osa could revive Siege’s flagging playercount. Unfortunately, actual Rainbow Six players were less enthused. In the comments section for the character gameplay reveal on IGN, players pointed out the character’s similarity in gadgetry to other operators already in the game, reused weapons, and the lack of a new map being produced for the game in several years.
Top comments on the reveal include observations such as “Can not wait to not use this operator,” “We need new maps, and literally nobody wants another OP shield operator,” and “Why does it seem like Ubi doesnt have any actual operator idea designers, they just reuse and slightly alter old operators and think that’ll fix it.”
