The Six Invitational 2018 Reached Unprecedented Viewing Numbers
By Nicholas Barth ·
This year's Six Invitational in Montreal, Canada was a major success for Rainbow Six: Siege's esports scene, as the event reached record figures for the game and looks to continue growing for the future.
Competing for the lion's share of a $500,000 prize pool, 16 of the best professional Rainbow Six: Siege teams in the world descended onto the Ubisoft Montreal Studio to claim the Six Invitational 2018 Championship. The event took place between February 13th to the 18th and was held to celebrate the second anniversary of Rainbow Six: Siege's release. PENTA Sports were crowned champions of the Six Invitational 2018, after clawing their way back from a 0-2 deficit against Evil Geniuses to achieve a 3-2 victory.
PENTA Sports staged a comeback that will not be soon forgotten.
Source: Ubisoft
The grand final set a new record for viewership in Rainbow Six esports, as a peak of 321,000 concurrent viewers tuned in to see two of the best teams in the world battle for the grand prize. This was a 184% increase in viewership from last year's Six Invitational Grand Final. More than 6.2 million hours of Rainbow Six: Siege action was watched across all event channels.
With such a successful end to year two of the Rainbow Six Pro League in the books, the Rainbow Six: Siege esports scene will look to grow upon this success in its third year. 2018 will see the beginning of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Pro League Season 7. This will be a three-month long transition season that will pave the way for the new Pro League format that was announced back in January. The new Pro League format will include two six-month long seasons and will begin with Season 8 in June 2018.
The Rainbow Six Pro League is where teams show the world they belong with the best.
Source: Ubisoft
The next Rainbow Six: Siege Major will be taking place in Paris, France this August, as 16 of the best teams in the world will compete at the Six Major Paris before the Six Invitational 2019. Additional changes for Season 8 of the Pro League will include a pick and ban phase for operators, and a map structure update that will see defending teams play all five of their defender rounds before possibly switching to attack, depending on the score of the match.
The Future is looking very bright for the Rainbow Six: Siege esports scene, as it heads into its third year with a significant increase in interest and viewership.