What you need to know
- Ubisoft will change voice actors for Hibana and Mira with its upcoming Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege update, Operation Shifting Tides.
- Former talent Christine Solomon and Jamie Choi parted with the series, as Ubisoft adjusts its cast to "ensure consistency" moving forward.
Ubisoft recently unveiled Operation Shifting Tides, its latest tri-monthly update headed to Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege. The upcoming content drop centers on new Operators Kali and Wamai, featuring new anti-gadget and anti-projectile to shake up the flow of combat. It also appears Ubisoft has made significant changes to two existing Operators, switching out voice actors and re-recording in-game chatter.
Ubisoft detailed the change in the closing paragraph of its extensive Shifting Tides patch notes, confirming former voice actors Christine Solomon and Jamie Choi parted with the series. The update will introduce new, although currently unnamed voice actors, replacing existing in-game dialogue.
"The Operator voices for Hibana and Mira have been re-recorded with new voice actors," stated Ubisoft. "We are thankful to the voice actors that we worked with up to this point, but with the expansion of our Universe content, we needed to make adjustments to our talent line up to ensure consistency."
Windows Central gained an early hands-on with Shifting Tides ahead of the reveal, playing multiple rounds with the Spanish and Japanese Operators. I didn't notice the changes during our sessions, and even when comparing our preview footage against files from the live build, the differences are hard to perceive. The upcoming Test Server (TS) build will provide further opportunity for comparison, with clearer side-by-side samples.
Ubisoft's reasoning for the change is understandable, as the publisher ramps up supporting narrative content for the playable roster. The upcoming full-fledged Battle Pass is expected to double down on Operator lore, complementing deeper origin stories and CGI content released throughout 2019. The reason behind the rework is unclear, although Ubisoft's statement suggests a split after failing to secure Solomon and Choi for future seasons.
For a deep dive into Rainbow Six Siege Shifting Tides changes, Ubisoft's full patch notes are now live.
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