Ubisoft conducted some scheduled server maintenance on various titles on Tuesday, which may include some prep work for the Rainbow Six Siege Operation Health 2.2.1 patch update. The maintenance period, which affects PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, is slated to implement several changes. According to Ubisoft, 2.2.1 will launch on PC June 7 while consoles will receive the update on June 20. That said, the console patch date is subject to change depending on the stability of the PC version.
The Rainbow6 blog addressed one of the major changes coming to the 2.2.1 update – Blitz's earmuffs or Frost's collar will no longer count as part of the operator's hitbox. The issue has plagued Siege for a while. Initially, the team at Ubisoft explained that they believed "everything should react," thus "the entirety of an Operator's character model would be included in the hitbox."
Obviously, not all character models are alike, and those with more accessories around the head were more vulnerable to false headshots. No doubt, consistency is important for multiplayer tactical shooters, and with new operators coming into the mix every season, it's important to implement the hitbox tweaks before we encounter more differences in the future.
But that's not all. While changes to the hitbox are great, Ubisoft won't be stopping there. To respect the game's initial philosophy, "everything should react," the team will work to make sure hitting Blitz's earmuffs will still cuase a reaction. Hitting metallic accessories will create a visual spark effect as well as a ricochet sound. As you can imagine, this change will take a while to create – there is no ETA for this feature at the time.
After the maintenance period, the team encountered a server outage that affected Ubisoft titles including Siege, Ghost Recon Wildlands, For Honor, Watch Dogs 2, Steep, Far Cry 4 and more. The outage occurred at 15:15 UTC, or 11:15 a.m. EST. Sadly, the outage knocked out the servers for a couple hours before they were restored.
Obviously, Ubisoft players weren't happy at all. As a gesture of apology, the Rainbow Six team announced a 50% Bonus Renown Event that will run for the next 48 hours.
"In light of today's outage, as well as the delay for 2.2.1's deployment to PC, we have activated a 50% Bonus Renown Event that will run for the next 48 hours," Ubisoft announced in its Ubi forums.
"There will be a maintenance tomorrow, and any downtime incurred as a result of that maintenance will be added to the end of the Bonus Renown Event's timer, ensuring that you receive a full 48 hours of 50% more Renown!
"This 50% bonus will stack with boosters, so this is the perfect time to pop a booster and start saving for Alpha Packs!"
Where you affected by the outage? Are you excited for the Rainbow Six Siege bonus event and the new hitbox tweaks coming to the 2.1.1 update? Let us know in the comment section below.
