With a new initiative called The FAM Series, Ubisoft Canada aims to bridge the gap between Canada’s professional competitive Rainbow Six Siege scene and the game’s national fanbase of competitive nonprofessional players.

Rainbow Six Siege currently has an active pro scene in Canada, the apex of which is its Canada Nationals tournament seriesHowever, spots in that series are limited, and even some of Canada's strongest teams haven’t quite reached the threshold where competing at that level is a realistic possibility.

So, in an effort to drive fan engagement and collaboration at a local level, Ubisoft Canada is bringing the FAM Series to its Canadian market. This series of competitive fan events in locations such as Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal is aimed at supporting local Rainbow Six Siege communities, ultimately supplementing the Canada Nationals.

The Genesis of the FAM Series

Montreal is Ubisoft’s home base for everything Rainbow Six Siege. As such, it seems to only make sense that a series of locally-focused events dedicated to celebrating this popular game should emerge within the country.

As the Canadian emphasis on competitive Rainbow Six Siege began to grow, Ubisoft Canada felt it was important to do something extra to highlight its active Canadian Rainbow Six Siege community. It quickly became clear that it would be important for them to dig a little deeper to build a network that would cultivate and support local talent.

They then answered this call by developing the FAM Series. Through this initiative, the company is partnering with local venues to host Rainbow Six Siege events to reward local communities with unique experiences that serve to celebrate their love of the game.

“We recognize that there are some great opportunities to connect with our fans and deliver something that they really value and want to see,” said Adam Climan, esports and communications manager at Ubisoft Canada. “In Canada in particular, we really wanted to give fans a chance to develop their skills and show off a bit, too, because, like anything else, players really want to show off what they can do and be the best in their region.”

One of the primary aims of the FAM Series is to develop local and homegrown team talent.

“You don’t necessarily have to be playing in a professional league. You don’t necessarily have to make it to the Canadian Nationals to take part in this league and to experience the fun and excitement of Rainbow Six at a competitive level,” Climan said.

Community is Key

With competitive esports still in a relatively early stage of development, there’s no gold standard as to how leagues should support talent. So gaming companies are continually looking for new ways to build connections with players, while also maximizing fanfare around their games.

“First and foremost, it’s about building something for the community,” said Climan.

This initiative gives Ubisoft teams a direct line to its player base. Though perhaps technically a marketing initiative, it’s ultimately about investing in new ways to connect with players to build better experiences and improve the game.

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“We really wanted wanted to serve our communities because they’re so passionate about gaming,” Climan said. “We have a very strong gaming audience in Canada and we know that Canadians are very involved with esports as a whole.”

While it’s no secret that online communities are extremely important in most games, the rise of a local emphasis in the esports community is somewhat new. It was only earlier this year that Overwatch League announced its city-based teams, a which remains a novel approach to competitive esports.

As such, it’s even more rare to find a coordinated esports event series beyond the professional level. A successful FAM Series run could open the floodgates for other teams and companies to follow suit.

Participating FAM Series venues include The Gaming Stadium (Vancouver), SKL Esports (Regina), Waves Gaming (Toronto), Inside the Game (Toronto) and Esports Central (Montreal).

via: Ubisoft

The Rainbow Six Siege Canada Nationals: Looking To The Future Of Canadian Esports

Compared to the FAM Series, the road to the Canada Nationals is much more rigorous. This major annual championship series gives professional teams and polished talent the chance to compete on a national scale. This year's event will bring the country’s best players together to compete for a prize pool of $15,000.

Operating in the shadow of the longer-running U.S. Nationals, the Canada Nationals series, now in its second year, is now focused on building a large-scale competitive series to compete on a global scale with the U.S. and other international rivals.

This year's major players include reigning champions Team Canada and rising team Thread the Needle.

The Rainbow Six Siege Canada Nationals will enter its Quarter Finals round on Sept. 14. Several weeks of qualifier events will culminate in the Grand Finals on Oct. 19.

Fans can catch all the action on the Rainbow Six Siege Twitch channel and can follow the Ubisoft North America YouTube channel for updates and additional information. The full schedule is available on the Rainbow Six Siege Canada Nationals website.

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