French game company Ubisoft announced on February 23 that its official mobile game "Rainbow Six Mobile" (R6M) for the well-known multiplayer shooter game IP "Rainbow Six" has been officially launched in over 170 countries and regions worldwide.

This game has been under development for nearly 7 years, with many twists and turns in the testing process. It is also a top IP of a major manufacturer (according to Ubisoft's financial report released at the end of 2024, the lifetime revenue of "Rainbow Six: Siege" reached 3.5 billion euros, and public information shows that the number of players of "Rainbow Six" has exceeded 100 million). In addition, it is highly likely to enter the domestic market in the future, further exacerbating the competitive landscape of the shooting track. Therefore, its popularity has been rising recently, and the industry is paying close attention to it.

So what is the market data after the R6M public beta? Has there been a large-scale deployment? What testing cycle did the game go through in the early stages? In terms of experience, how is the restoration, operation adjustment, and optimization done in mobile games? How is the preparation work for the national server? In the following text, Dian Dian Hai will be disassembled and analyzed one by one.

01

The free ranking is very good, but the progress of the bestseller list is slow

The 5-day public beta has a turnover of 3.28 million, which is different from market expectations

On the day of the public beta on the 23rd, R6M began to make its way to the list. The next day, R6M reached the top 10 of the free list of iOS games in 103 countries and regions (including 66 regional markets such as the United States, South Korea, and Germany, ranking second in Japan, Taiwan, China, and Indonesia). The corresponding best-selling list of iOS games was relatively slow in its global climb. It only reached the top 50 of 11 regional markets on the 5th day, and did not include the T1 market.

Up to now (March 2), the game is still in the top 20 of the iOS game free list in 73 regional markets (including the first place in the United States, the eighth place in Taiwan, China, the ninth place in South Korea, and the 14th place in Japan), and the top 50 of the iOS game best-selling list in nine regional markets, but no obvious breakthrough has yet been found in the T1 market.

In terms of download volume, on the first day of its public beta, the download volume skyrocketed to 640000, and the next day, the download volume reached a peak of 904000. Although the download volume began to decline thereafter, the speed was not fast, currently around 550000.

In terms of operational revenue, the first day's revenue was only 223000 yuan. Although the daily revenue increased to 710000 yuan and 900000 yuan respectively in the following two days, there was no further increase thereafter, and the daily revenue began to fluctuate steadily between 650000 yuan and 800000 yuan.

As of February 27th, the game has been officially launched globally for 5 days, with a cumulative download volume of approximately 3.6 million. Among them, the United States, India, and the United Kingdom rank in the top 3 with 24.06%, 7.3%, and 5.14% respectively. In terms of platforms, Google Play and App Store are basically in a 50-50 split;

Its performance on the bestseller list fully indicates that its revenue is average, with an estimated total revenue of around 3.28 million yuan. The United States, Japan, and Germany account for 59.69%, 9.85%, and 3.71% respectively, ranking in the top three. However, in terms of platforms, the App Store contributes as much as 82.58%.

Based solely on the above data, the performance of Rainbow Six Mobile does not meet the market expectations of shooting mobile games under the support of super IP, which may be related to multiple aspects such as testing cycle, gameplay experience, and deployment.

02

The testing period lasts for 4 years, consuming players' patience

There are also challenges in terms of advertising volume and gameplay experience

According to public information, as early as early as April 2022, Ubisoft officially released a trailer for R6M. At that time, it stated that the mobile game was mainly developed by the new team of Ubisoft Montreal Studio (a total of 11 Ubisoft studios were mobilized to participate in production, with Tencent serving as a "consultant" role to "provide professional knowledge and advice to the team"). It has been under development for 3 years and is expected to be officially launched within 22 years.

In the absence of high-quality CQB (Indoor Close Battle) game slots on the market at that time, this game was an important and opportunistic step in Ubisoft's "premium free to play" transformation strategy.

So, in mid to late April of that year, the game began its deployment work. In May, it conducted its first closed A-test (limited to Android devices) in some areas such as the United States, Mexico, and Canada. This test opened two classic maps, "Bank" and "Border", as well as bomb and safe zone modes, with 18 available characters (half for offensive and half for defensive agents). In August, the game announced the official start of pre registration.

But the testing pace of the game slowed down afterwards. The second round of closed testing, originally scheduled to start in the autumn of 2022, was not launched until June 2023 (limited edition testing on both platforms), which added new maps such as "Clubhouse" and "Deathmatch" mode.

In mid March 2024, the market did not wait for the official launch of the game. Instead, it received an announcement that the game would temporarily suspend the expansion of the testing area and the release of new content (players in the testing area could still play during the suspension period). The official explanation was that efforts needed to be focused on improving the feedback and opinions received from players.

Among them, the main roast are "tickets need to be consumed to upgrade the staff" and "the reputation system is not perfect" in terms of playing methods. The game bugs and networking related issues in terms of server performance, optimization and device compatibility are also core disputes.

Afterwards, the game entered a relatively quiet stage of "reshaping and optimization", and there will be some waves again until 2025.

In late January of that year, the daily download volume increased significantly, reaching a peak of over 30000 at one point. It was also in January that its monthly revenue exceeded six digits for the first time, reaching 260000 yuan; Following that, a two-week "invited tasting test" (Android version deleted files without recharging) was launched in mid May; In mid July, there was another surge in daily downloads, with a peak of over 100000 downloads at one point (also the first time the monthly game revenue exceeded one million in July). Although there has been a decline since then, daily downloads have remained below 10000; At the end of December, Ubisoft officially confirmed the public beta time.

Looking back on the journey of R6M, it took four years from its initial release to its official launch. During this period, almost every year, it was announced that it would undergo public testing. In addition, some negative experiences in early gameplay and optimization made it difficult for the market and players to maintain high expectations.

Secondly, in terms of promotion, due to the top-level IP attributes of the game, it relies more on marketing support from the community, content, and esports. The advertising platform is very restrained, with a cumulative advertising creativity of only 2274 on the Google platform and 1085 on the Apple platform over the past four years. Although there was a significant increase in the first two months of public testing, it did not reach the level of explosive volume. In the past 30 days, the advertising creativity on the Apple platform was even only 228.

The image comes from Guangdada

Finally, in terms of gameplay, both in terms of underlying tactical games and operational feel, the game has the greatest potential to replicate the PC gaming experience.

Mobile games still focus on indoor scenes as the core of the first person perspective bilateral confrontation gameplay. The goal of the defending side is to prevent the attacking side from placing bomb disposal devices and guard the bomb placement site within a specified time; The goal of the attacking side is to enter the building, place bomb disposal devices at designated bomb disposal points, and dismantle the defensive side's bombs; In terms of map design, it follows the design paradigm of "vertical layering+multi-path access" that distinguishes "Rainbow Six" from other shooting games. In addition, the core mechanism of "environmental destructiveness" also helps the game extend the depth of map variables and strategies.

The game currently offers two modes: "5V5" and "3V3". Among them, "3V3" is the key content of the first season's "Operation Sand Wraith", providing 7 maps and 27 operators (13 from the attacking side). Among them, 5 maps inherit the original graphics of the PC game, and the difficulty of operation has also been reduced after the mobile game transformation. The battle time per game has been compressed to about 7-15 minutes.

Of course, in addition to the advantages, there are also problems that exist. For example, the maximum limit for image quality is 60 frames per second; For example, each operator can only use preset equipment, and some operators have set up seasonal paywalls; Or perhaps due to the relatively strict commercialization, each slot in the appearance of the weapon often corresponds to only one preset accessory; Finally, a more common issue is the execution threshold of complex tactics brought about by the strategic depth of the game itself, which cannot be easily resolved by relying on a large IP.

03

R6M still has room to go against the trend in the second half

The "Rainbow 6" IP may explode domestically in 2026

The initial performance of Rainbow Six Mobile during its global launch did not reach the level expected of a super IP, but this is related to the length of testing and evaluation in the early stages, as well as the level of investment and gameplay barriers. The space for the CQB track and the large DAU competitive atmosphere that gradually accumulates in shooting categories determine that R6M still has a lot of room for error and time to play in the second half.

Additionally, it is worth noting that the release of R6M for the Chinese server is handled by Tencent, and its version number was already issued as early as August 2024.

At the same time, the Chinese version of the game has also made frequent moves. First, it was announced at BW2025 in Shanghai that the official website and Wegame platform would be open for pre orders and the first test would be launched in the spring of 2026. Then, it was renamed "Rainbow 6: Offensive" and obtained the version number in January this year. In mid February, it was announced that the CN Division (CNL) was officially established.

In July 2025, Tencent established the K9 Cooperation Department to fully engage in Ubisoft's related business. In October of the same year, the two companies jointly established Vantage Studios, which will be responsible for the future development of core IPs such as Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six.

Overall, as Tencent's participation in Ubisoft's core IP will continue to deepen, "Rainbow 6" seems to be the fastest to accept market tests. Therefore, Tencent will inevitably invest more resources. In terms of the current layout of related products in China, "Rainbow 6" is likely to follow the trend of leading edge games and expanding into later hand games in the domestic market by 2026.