Skip to main content PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES Search PC Gamer View Profile Movies & TV Gaming Industry PC Gaming Show Newsletter Signup Community Guidelines Affiliate Links Meet the team About PC Gamer Essential Hardware PC Gaming Show Dune: Awakening Recommended reading Every time a new shooter launches, I start a countdown until it becomes a clown show of brands and hideous skins Ubisoft slows free currency gain in Rainbow Six Siege X to a pathetic crawl, then immediately drops its most expensive skin in 10 years Overwatch players freak out over supposed Widowmaker butt nerf, proving that Marvel Rivals gooner skins have wound back the clock 10 years Rainbow Six Siege is more popular and better than ever. That's one point for 'make something actually unique and stick with it,' zero points for 'give up and lay everyone off' Battle Royale Live service games are 'innovating' all the way back around to what worked 20 years ago, except way worse Third Person Shooter I really don't want to cosplay as Darth Vader in Destiny 2, so I'm even more queasy about the announcement of a whole Star Wars-themed expansion Game Development Ultrakill publisher co-founder throws up hands, jokes 'Tarkov has done irreparable f*cking damage to the game industry' because even FromSoftware games are extraction shooters now I asked the man in charge of a major live service game if ugly crossover skins are a problem, and I didn't care for his answer Morgan Park 27 June 2025 "Our goal is to provide as much variety as possible within limits." When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Ubisoft) Are goofy crossover skins a net negative for multiplayer shooters? That's the question I posed to Rainbow Six Siege X creative director Alex Karpazis in an interview following the launch of its Siege X update. He took the pointed question in stride, but I knew before asking that I'd never get the response I was secretly hoping for: Deep regret and utter capitulation. I tend to think immersion matters in multiplayer shooters, and it's best when developers work within a game's visual identity to let players express themselves, but that's just like, my opinion, man. Karpazis takes the understandable stance of someone who has seen firsthand how many people buy and enjoy crossover skins that look totally out of place in the game they inhabit (and, of course, has a stake in the success of those skins). Related Articles Every time a new shooter launches, I start a countdown until it becomes a clown show of brands and hideous skins Ubisoft slows free currency gain in Rainbow Six Siege X to a pathetic crawl, then immediately drops its most expensive skin in 10 years Overwatch players freak out over supposed Widowmaker butt nerf, proving that Marvel Rivals gooner skins have wound back the clock 10 years "When it comes to Siege, we're talking about millions of players. So to say that one taste fits all is incredibly hard, but there is a tone in Siege that we want to commit to. When we present the game to players for the first time, there is a serious tone and a story behind all of it that we want to make sure is consistent, is tactical, that honors the roots of Rainbow Six and the games that came before it," Karpazis said. "When it comes to skins, though, there's clearly a variety to what players want, so for us, our goal is to provide as much variety as possible within limits." Image 1 of 9 (Image credit: Ubisoft) (Image credit: Ubisoft) (Image credit: Ubisoft) (Image credit: Ubisoft) (Image credit: Ubisoft) (Image credit: Ubisoft) (Image credit: Ubisoft) (Image credit: Ubisoft) (Image credit: Ubisoft) Rainbow Six Siege, like its other live service FPS contemporaries, is a clown show of gaudy crossovers and ugly skins. But unlike games that launched in the wake of 2018 Fortnite mania, Siege has been around long enough to have known a time before the uglification of multiplayer shooters. For those first few years, scrolling Siege's cosmetic store was like browsing a military surplus shop for camouflage patterns and intimidating helmets—fashion with a tactical focus. Post Fortnite, Ubisoft slowly but surely relinquished its coherent art style to adopt the characteristics of a Spirit Halloween store that never closes—recent crossovers include The Boys, Iron Maiden, Dead By Daylight, Yakuza, Street Fighter, and Rick & Morty. The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. As an example of Siege sticking to its tactical roots, Karpazis offered Clash's new elite skin, a black and grey spec ops uniform that could've conceivably been worn by Solid Snake. It is pretty cool, and to be fair to Siege, the aging FPS still gets new, thematically appropriate cosmetics regularly. Maybe I'm the weird one, but this looks better than everyone wearing cosplay, right? I take issue with Ubisoft's "limits," because frankly, what limits? We have Homelander hard-breaching walls while Rick Sanchez lies in wait to stop the push. Siege has already plunged way off the deep end of artistic consistency. I consider it a bad sign that Karpazis believes Valkyrie's new $50 Paragon skin is an example of the balance between "tacticool and fantastical." "We were really careful in trying to gauge where it lands when you mix tacticool with fantastical elements. It is not canon and it is out of the norm, but it is something that players have been asking for, and it's clear that they really do enjoy it in a game like Siege," he said. "So while, yes, there are people who probably want to keep that immersion all of the time, there's also players who very much want to customize their characters, too." To be clear, we're talking about this Valkyrie outfit: (Image credit: Ubisoft) Her shoulders are knives, every other object glows, and her gun turns into a sword. If this is being "really careful" with Siege's grounded roots, then remind me to never let Ubisoft borrow my car. It's true that Siege offers skins that appeal to a variety of tastes, but focusing on individual skins in a vacuum ignores the elephant in the room. The existence and density of incongruent nonsense makes Siege uglier for everybody, even if I choose to only wear default outfits. Sure, the onboarding tutorials are tonally consistent, but that's not the real game. Siege is its multiplayer environment, and it's become a real eyesore. To that end, I asked Karpazis if Siege would ever offer an "immersion mode" that makes all operators appear in default skins. "To be honest, we have [considered it], and it's something we're kind of gauging right now with the community. Nothing to announce right now, but it is a subject that we're talking about." 2025 games: This year's upcoming releases Best PC games: Our all-time favorites Free PC games: Freebie fest Best FPS games: Finest gunplay Best RPGs: Grand adventures Best co-op games: Better together Rainbow Six Siege X Rainbow Six Siege Morgan Park Social Links Navigation Staff Writer Morgan has been writing for PC Gamer since 2018, first as a freelancer and currently as a staff writer. He has also appeared on Polygon, Kotaku, Fanbyte, and PCGamesN. Before freelancing, he spent most of high school and all of college writing at small gaming sites that didn't pay him. He's very happy to have a real job now. Morgan is a beat writer following the latest and greatest shooters and the communities that play them. He also writes general news, reviews, features, the occasional guide, and bad jokes in Slack. Twist his arm, and he'll even write about a boring strategy game. Please don't, though. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Every time a new shooter launches, I start a countdown until it becomes a clown show of brands and hideous skins Ubisoft slows free currency gain in Rainbow Six Siege X to a pathetic crawl, then immediately drops its most expensive skin in 10 years Overwatch players freak out over supposed Widowmaker butt nerf, proving that Marvel Rivals gooner skins have wound back the clock 10 years Rainbow Six Siege is more popular and better than ever. That's one point for 'make something actually unique and stick with it,' zero points for 'give up and lay everyone off' Live service games are 'innovating' all the way back around to what worked 20 years ago, except way worse I really don't want to cosplay as Darth Vader in Destiny 2, so I'm even more queasy about the announcement of a whole Star Wars-themed expansion Latest in FPS Randy Pitchford makes people mad again by warning that Borderlands 4 will take even longer to get deep discounts than Borderlands 3 did Despite limping on Steam charts with a 24-hour peak of less than 200, FBC: Firebreak hits 1 million players milestone—and, let's face it, it's probably Game Pass Rainbow Six Siege X director says free currency gain has been 'buffed' after complaints: 'The goal wasn't to make it a harder grind for players' Stalker 2 artist kickstarts the Zone Kit modding scene with a flood of glorious nonsense mods featuring Shrek, CJ, and—you guessed it—Thomas the Tank Engine Stalker 2's 1.5 mega-patch just dropped and GSC says A-Life is back, baby Wanna make mods for Stalker 2? 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