SAN FRANCISCO — June 5, 2018 — Today, Ubisoft® announced the “Pilot Program”, a revenue-share initiative that continues to shape the best Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® Pro League possible for our teams, players and talents. This Program will allow revenue sharing with a selection of Pro League teams as well as with the Six Invitational 2019 prizepool, based on specific in-game items. It will provide organizations and pro players additional revenue directly from the game to help foster a more stable environment. The Pilot Program will launch at the start of Pro League Season 8, June 11 2018 and will cover Seasons 8 and 9, until May 2019. It will be a test period, designed to learn and iterate before reaching a more finalized revenue-share format next year.
Teams will be part of the Pilot Program, from all 4 Pro League regions (Europe, North America, Latin-America, Asia-Pacific). Here is the complete list of these organizations:
PENTA Sports (EU)
· Vitality (EU)
· Evil Geniuses (NA)
· Rogue (NA)
· SK Gaming (NA)
· Mousesports (NA)
· FaZe Clan (LATAM)
· Team Liquid (LATAM)
· Immortals (ex-BRK esports – LATAM)
· FNATIC (ANZ)
· Ninjas in Pyjamas (roster announced soon)
This list includes the two latest additions to the Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Pro League, joining us as of Season 8: Immortals, acquiring BRK e-sports (Brazil), and Ninjas in Pyjamas, acquiring a roster to be announced.
“For us, the Pilot Program is a way to reward the teams that are contributing to the League and help it grow,” said François-Xavier Dénièle, Esports Director, Ubisoft EMEA. “For fans, we believe it is one of the most direct ways to show their support to specific teams and players. With this program, we are expanding on the Team Charm initiative we ran with different teams during last year’s Pro League seasons.”
The Pilot Program is part of a more global evolution of the Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Pro League towards further professionalization. With a new format, each year now comprised of two six-month long Pro League Seasons, and more LAN events, such as the Six Major Paris happening from August 13 to 19. Additional details on Years 2018-2020 Pro League format can be found here.
Pilot Program Q&A_______________________________________________________________
Q: Which revenues are you referring to, and how are these redistributed?
A: Overall, 30% of the net revenue on selected items will be redistributed. There will be two different type of items concerned by the revenue share, only for the 11 teams integrating the Pilot Program:
– “Pilot Team” items: Each of the 11 teams will receive one charm and one weapon skin with their color/branding during the program. For these items, revenue share is set at 30% of the net revenue going to the Pilot Team concerned.
– Pro League items: for each Pro League branded skins and charms sold, 30% of the net revenue will be split between the upcoming Six Invitational 2019 prizepool and equally between each of the 11 teams of the Program.
Q: Why stop at 30%? Why isn’t there a share of the revenue directly provided to the players?
30% of revenue sharing allows for significant extra revenue for teams to help them grow. While very few games may offer more, they are also asking more, usually under the form of direct financial investment. For the time being, we also let teams dispatch the revenue as they intent. This Pilot Program is, as the name indicates, a first test that will help us build a stronger model and ultimately a more professional Rainbow Six Pro League.
Q: How did you select the 11 Pilot Teams?
The Pilot Program is only a start and is meant to evolve. In order to set a first phase, we looked for established, fan fueled and stable organizations across all 4 regions of Pro League. These 11 structures were all previously in the Pro League, or acquired an historical roster. It is an important reward for our best and most involved players. A Pilot Team benefits are valid for the whole duration of the Year.
Q: Why limit the program to 11 teams?
At this point in time, we feel confident that the Pilot Program can generate enough revenue for up to 11 teams to grow significantly and drive changes for all to benefit.
Q: Why only in game items?
We have been testing Pro League and Team items for more than a year now and feel comfortable with the results and so we do not think it is relevant to add any other potential source of revenue to teams during this first test period. However, once again, this is a first test and we will learn and iterate a lot on this first base, to reach a more finalized model soon.
