Rainbow Six Siege trailer shows off its swanky spectator cam

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The latest Rainbow Six Siege trailer spends quite a bit of time talking about how the game has evolved into a competitive experience, due largely to the demanding player coordination required to succeed. It also shows off, a little past the halfway mark, the very flexible spectator cam, which Ubisoft says arose from widespread interest among live audiences during tournament matches.

The video demonstrates how the "extremely user friendly" camera controls will allow viewers to watch the action in first- or third-person perspective from any player's viewpoint, or zoom out for a bird's-eye tactical view. The top-down view can be zoomed and rotated, highlights and labels players and other elements of importance, and also shows what weapons and equipment each competitor is packing.

"When watching an FPS, you see 100 percent of the action through the player's eyes. In our Spectator mode we've done the opposite," Creative Director Xavier Marquis explains in the video. "You can see the entire team, their movement and tactics, and then you can zoom in to see an individual player's viewpoint."

Rainbow Six Siege is scheduled to enter closed beta next month. You can take a shot at getting in by registering at the Rainbow Six website, or you can guarantee access by preordering the game—which, as always, is not a path we endorse. It's set to launch on October 13.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.