Launching Siege X:
Transforming a historic Ubisoft franchise with the Creator Rumble
For many gaming fans, Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six is a universally recognised series of tactical shooter games. Spanning multiple consoles and generations from its launch in 1998, the franchise has cemented its position as one of the most enduring and recognisable names in the genre.
In the run up to its 10th anniversary in 2025, the game was relaunched as Rainbow Six Siege X - becoming free-to-play, a major update and evolution in the tactical shooter's history. Ubisoft knew they needed to capitalise on the release of Siege X as a free-to-play product, reengaging lapsed players and building a new fanbase.
That’s where Saulderson came in. Our continued partnership with Ubisoft had already delivered a host of successful campaigns, establishing the trust, agility and proven expertise that would help make Siege X a success and let the global gaming community know that Siege was back, better than ever and free!
Our Approach
The relaunch provided a key opportunity to re-energize the current and lapsed player community, and Ubisoft wanted to prove the concept of using creator tournaments to drive new users and generate awareness of the game.
We needed to find relevant creators who would not only play in the tournament but also spontaneously promote the game, proving to their audience that it was worth playing. With KPIs linked to creator count, watch hours, stream hours and social posts, we began to form a campaign strategy.
The Opportunity and the Challenge
We saw an opportunity to partner with some of the largest FPS (first-person-shooter) and TPS (third-person-shooter) gamers across the UK and Nordics. We prioritised creators from competitive shooters such as Marvel Rivals, Valorant, Overwatch and Call of Duty, providing their existing audiences with new Siege X content, or to prompt them to jump back into a game they may have played many years before.
A major challenge in organising any competition involving online creators is team balance - making sure every team has a similar level of skill. This is crucial for a fun and competitive event for both the players and the audience.
To ensure fair teams, we used the creators' performance levels (their 'ranks') from other competitive games. This was based on the fact that core skills like quick reaction time are transferable, allowing us to balance the teams effectively regardless of their specific experience with the new game. Constant Discord support fostered great relationships and encouraged practice. Creators teamed up pre-tournament to refine tactics and strategy, leading to amazing gameplay.
The Siege Creator Rumble is Born
We onboarded 40 creators from the UK and Nordics to take part in the Siege Creator Rumble Tournament, which took place from the 9th - 17th July 2025
With a £10,000 prize, the tournament consisted of 3 group stage matches for each team and a grand final.
The tournament had eight Captains, all regular Siege players, joined by four ‘noobs’ who didn't regularly play Siege.
Throughout the tournament, we provided creators with relevant prizes for giveaways to drive further audience engagement, stream participation and encourage them to download the game.
The Result
Creators: 42/40 (5% exceeded)
Watch Hours: 135,000/104,000 (29.8% exceeded)
Stream Hours: 320/240 (33.3% exceeded)
Social Posts: 72/60 (20% exceeded)
Our work reinvigorated Siege X’s appeal to new and existing audiences through selecting high-profile, popular Captains for the Creator Rumble. We saw average viewership on streams rise by 187%, and even up to 700%.
The success and excitement saw many of our creators continue to play and stream Siege X after the tournament was over and above and beyond what was contracted, which was of key importance to Ubisoft.
We saw 22 extra streams delivered by our creators outside of what was contracted, and two creators have continued to play Siege regularly since the campaign finished, with combined watch hours of 59,670 - worth an estimated $89,505.
We also provided added value through multiple YouTube wrap-up videos from three tournament Captains, worth an estimated $40 - $60k in creator fees.
