Ubisoft is gearing up for the newest release in the Rainbow Six franchise, and the company has finally settled on a name for the new game: Rainbow Six Extraction. Announced at 2019's E3, the game formerly known as Rainbow Six Quarantine was delayed from its 2020 release window by the COVID-19 pandemic, giving the development team more time to polish before a launch version. Ubisoft is set to make it available later in 2021, and the new name seems to be more in line with the game's core concepts.
This new entry in the long-running Rainbow Six franchise is set to be a major departure from previous titles, which had a heavy focus on real-world military tactics and competitive multiplayer. The upcoming game will revolve around a co-op experience between three players, which is a departure from the 5v5 multiplayer gameplay of Rainbow Six Siege. Players will control returning operators as they fight to destroy a malicious alien parasite.
The parasite has supposedly taken over the world, creating monsters that must be destroyed. Communication with the team will be critical, as players must decide whether to push into the game’s laboratory setting for better rewards or get out of town with their earned loot. Based on what is currently known, the game seems like an expanded take on the Outbreak mode found in Rainbow Six Siege, which saw players fighting off waves of aliens in a New Mexico setting.
Possible Reasons For Rainbow Six Extraction's Name Change
The swap from Quarantine to Extraction was announced by producer Antoine Vimal du Monteil during a tease of the E3 Ubisoft Forward event. During the tease, Ubisoft stated that the game has “grown a lot” from where it began, and the team used the foundation of Rainbow Six Siege to help create a “modern, tactical co-op shooter, where you’ll be facing an always-evolving alien threat.” This growth - and the probable gameplay refinements since the game's delay last year - have likely contributed to the new title, which has rather different connotations than the former.
A move from Rainbow Six Quarantine to Extraction was perhaps inevitable to begin with given the events of 2020, and it was rumored that Ubisoft was considering a name change because of COVID-19. Society as a whole was forced into quarantine during the pandemic, putting Ubisoft in an uncomfortable position with the title of its new Rainbow Six game. It would undoubtedly want to avoid associating the new product with the harsh memories of 2020 as a whole, despite having already put Quarantine into public view.
The rumored change was originally thought to be Rainbow Six Parasite, with the publisher's internal teams referring to it as such. Ubisoft later clarified that this would not be the official name, though it didn't announce the final decision on Extraction until June 7. Players will get to learn more about Rainbow Six Extraction during E3, as Ubisoft is set to reveal gameplay at its Ubisoft Forward event on June 12.
Source: Ubisoft