Whether it be a terrible coincidence or a horrible oversight, it’s a bad look for Ubisoft.
Several members of the Rainbow Six community have expressed disappointment and outrage over the newest operator to land in Siege, New Zealand native Rauora.
Rauora was revealed as the 75th operator in Feb. 16's spate of seasonal announcements, but many were quick to look at the operator's bio, which contained references to one of New Zealand's darkest moments — references that have been regarded as "tasteless."
Update, Feb. 20 @ 11:25am AEST: Ubisoft has changed the birth date of Rauora to May 11, and in a statement to esports.gg, apologized for an oversight in the operator's bio.
“We apologize for the oversight and have taken immediate steps to change the birth date. The change has been made on the game’s website and will be implemented in the game via an update on March 4,” the statement read.
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"Who signed off on this?" Rauora's bio panned by Kiwi R6 fans
As part of Year 10 announcements following this year's Six Invitational, Ubisoft rolled out a preview for Rauora, a New Zealand-based attacker with a myriad of new gadgets and weapons — but that's not what has players upset.
Along with her kit, Ubisoft shared Rauora's operator biography, including her supposed hometown of Christchurch and a date of birth — March 15. It's a date sadly remembered in infamy for Kiwis; six years ago on March 15, 51 people were killed and 89 injured in a series of shootings across Christchurch.
The racially-charged incident became the worst mass shooting incident the country had ever seen and remains "one of New Zealand's darkest days" according to former prime minister Jacinta Ardern. As such, Ubisoft's decision to include Christchurch and March 15 in Rauora's biography has both puzzled and angered Rainbow Six fans.
"There [are] 365 days in the year, and you chose the day of New Zealand's worst mass shooting to be the birth date of a character? Who actually signs off on this?" one person said on X/Twitter. Others took to the Reddit page for the city of Christchurch to express their discomfort.
Some thought the bio was so blatant they felt it was "some writer's idea of a joke," while others put it to incompetence or a "rushed intern" who didn't follow up on the bio. Others believe Ubisoft had turned to AI and didn't fact check the biography or why a language-learning model would suggest such a coincidental location and date.
"I've played the game since release and was so excited to see a Māori operator announcement today, but I have no clue what Ubisoft was thinking using March 15 as Rauora's birth date," one said, believing AI was used as they think Ubisoft pivoted staff onto the launch of Siege X.
The full bio on the official Rainbow Six Siege site includes other references to Kiwi and Māori culture, but fans hope the date and place of birth listed are an oversight and can be corrected. In any case, it's a bad look and has certainly soured the mood for many NZ Siege players.
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