Ubisoft just announced Rainbow Six Tactics, a single-player turn-based tactics game starring 15 fan-favorite Operators from the popular long-running multiplayer first-person shooter Rainbow Six Siege. I had the chance to talk to Tactics game director Martial Potron about creating the first single-player Rainbow Six game since Rainbow Six Vegas 2 in 2008, including his thoughts on other franchises that have successfully pivoted genres, the importance of being a tactics game first, and more.

First, on that tactics-genre staple of permadeath, Potron said, "We know it’s a must-have for tactical fans. R6T features optional permadeath, as well as an Ironman mode. In practical terms, Operators who are too severely injured can be permanently unavailable for the rest of the campaign. Players can enable it at any difficulty level, so they can experience the added tension of risking to lose an operator on an easier setting. It dramatically changes the way you play, because operators are unique and not replaceable. Losing a favourite or highly progressed Operator forces players to adapt their strategy and rethink squad composition."

I reference Gears Tactics as another big action franchise that made a pretty successful pivot to tactics, and Potron didn't do the usual move of not mentioning anyone else's game by name, and offered this when I asked about lessons learned from other games that have dipped their toes in the tactics waters: "The key lesson is that the game must first succeed on its own terms," he said. "Tactical-game fans have very high expectations, so R6 Tactics has to stand as a strong tactics game before it can succeed as a Rainbow Six game.

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