One of 2021's most anticipated game releases is the victim of yet another of the COVID-19 pandemic's endless delays. Ubisoft has officially announced that Rainbow Six Extraction, the cooperative multiplayer spin-off of Rainbow Six Siege, will no longer be able to meet its initial release date in September. Ubisoft has instead delayed Rainbow Six Extraction into 2022. The game's new release window is in January next year and a more specific date has yet to be confirmed.
Accompanying the announcement of Rainbow Six Extraction's delay is a short letter from the development team. Unfortunately, the letter doesn't include a reason for the delay. Instead, the team at Ubisoft talks about what it plans to do with the additional months it has to work on Rainbow Six Extraction. The letter explains that the team will use the time to "bring this vision to life in the way it deserves," implying that the 2022 delay will lead to a more polished Rainbow Six Extraction than otherwise.
The Rainbow Six Extraction dev team also wants to reassure everyone, whether they're Rainbow Six Siege fans or new fans excited by Extraction's premise, that the game remains the "immersive, cooperative, and thrilling experience" originally announced. In other words, Ubisoft doesn't want fans to think that this delay means the game is changing from what was previously announced and shown during E3 2021.
Rainbow Six Extraction's previous release date was September 16, where it was fit into a slot between two other big Ubisoft game releases for 2021. Riders Republic was planned for September 2 and Far Cry 6 is releasing on October 7. That flooded release schedule could have played a role in Ubisoft's decision to delay Rainbow Six Extraction into 2022. Alternatively, another game Ubisoft wanted to launch in early 2022 could have been delayed, leading to Ubisoft wanting another early 2022 release to take its place.
Funnily enough, Ubisoft delayed Riders Republic at the same time as it delayed Rainbow Six Extraction. The multiplayer sports game will now launch on October 28 instead of on September 2, meaning Ubisoft no longer has a game releasing in September. Far Cry 6's release date remains unchanged, at least for the time being.
While it's unfortunate that Rainbow Six Extraction has been delayed after such an exciting reveal during E3 2021, anticipation for the cooperative shooter is likely to hold. A four-month delay is quite substantial, however, but hopefully doesn't belie larger issues with the project. As noted, game development during the COVID-19 pandemic isn't easy. Delays are common. Everything should work out normally from here.
Rainbow Six Extraction releases January 2022 on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.