The most problematic Operator in Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege isn't giving Ubisoft a break, with Clash removed once again from the tactical shooter. The Met Police defender, characterized by her high-voltage CCE Shield, has been the source of continued game-breaking glitches since her Grim Sky debut. While first quarantined in May 2019, followed by another absence just seven months later, the arrival of another exploit has sidelined the Operator for the third time in one year.
The nature of Clash's deployable, transparent shield has caused regular headaches for Ubisoft, with players uncovering methods to fire her secondary weapon with the bulletproof glass still raised. For a multiplayer title like Rainbow Six Siege, with a heavy reliance on its competitive tactical setting, those issues serve potentially game-breaking threats. And while Ubisoft announced Clash's return only one month ago, a new bug has impacted the Operator.
"We are deactivating Clash today," stated Rainbow Six Siege Community Manager, Jenny Feng, on Reddit. "We have become aware of an exploit, and have decided to deactivate Clash. As such, Clash will not be available for play until we have resolved the issue."
We spoke with former Rainbow Six Siege brand director, Alexandre Remy, during Clash's initial removal from the game, who discussed issues impacting the Operator, and a new failsafe to combat unexpected exploits. "[R]emoving a character, that's a big decision," Remy stated in May 2019. "It has an impact on the role, on the gameplay, and the meta, obviously. The amount of work that you have put in creating and developing an operator, the moment that you feel you have to remove him or her, everyone feels that it's a failure on our part."
With faster patch frequency and streamlined production pipelines, Remy detailed Ubisoft's ability to react to gameplay upsets. That's demonstrated by the instant deactivation of Clash today, allowing the developer to nullify gameplay impact, and engineer a patch. However, with past instances seeing Clash quarantined for over one month, the turnaround on her latest fix remains unclear.
One potential long-term solution could be a full Operator rework, as reportedly discussed by game director, Leroy Athanassoff, with PC Gamer. While Tachanka sits among the game's worst-performing Operators, his stationary turret also introduces a variety of bugs to address each season – many Ubisoft hopes to avoid with his new mobile LMG. A similar treatment could hugely benefit Clash, if an end to ongoing technical woes.
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Ubisoft's hit shooter is hotter than ever, touting tense tactical gameplay, and regular free updates. Entering 2020 with millions of players, Rainbow Six isn't slowing down.
