Dear Ubisoft, R6:S Esports and Wei Yue 

“The Year of Siege” is what Year 7’s roadmap is being dubbed by many members of the community, but with the recent announcement of the subsequent esports roadmap, we as a collective saw the decision to include UAE as one of the Major locations. UAE or United Arab Emirates has documented serious LGBTQ+ right issues in the past year, criminalising homosexuality resulting in floggings, fines, deportation, chemical castration, forced conversion therapy, honour killings, vigilante execution and more.

With the inclusion of LGBTQ+  members of R6:S talent, we believe as a collective that this decision is short-sighted, dangerous and backwards to the developing ideology of esports, Rainbow Six: Siege and it’s community.  Within SI 2022, there was an emphasis on the importance of Rainbow’s community, and this announcement is borderline insulting to our identity. We demand a change.

We firmly conclude that there should be a different location for the 2022 UAE Major, one that is welcoming to all talent, community and characters within Rainbow Six: Siege. Siege’s future should not be tainted by this decision, especially with how promising the year looks.

With the development of this decision, we have created an open petition directly calling for change that we seek. Please consider supporting our thoughts. If you are a member of the Rainbow Six: Siege community, and would like to be added to the list of casters, players, content creators and Siege Champions that are against this decision, please do not hesitate to respond to this post. 

The Rainbow Six: Siege Community