Ubisoft first announced Rainbow 6: Patriots at E3 in 2011, but aside from a short concept trailer, the studio rarely discussed the game's progress. When speaking to IGN, North American president Laurent Detoc explained that Ubisoft scrapped Rainbow 6: Patriots and started over.
"Rainbow had to be remade. Now they’re going to have the benefit of the new consoles, if and when it comes out. It’s one of those examples where you try, it doesn’t work, you try again. If it doesn’t work, we’re not going to bring it to you," Detoc revealed.
Often times a development team outlines their vision, but things don't always work out as planned. "We had a core team. They had a good vision," Detoc said. "They got started, and then the game wasn’t working."
He explained the editorial process at Ubisoft and the criticism that comes from the large group. If the group doesn't think the game's direction works, there's not much the studio can do to change it.
With the new console hardware and a return to the beginning of development, Ubisoft develops a new game. In regards to whether the name stays as Rainbow 6: Patriots, Detoc said that a change is possible. "Could it become a shooter with another name in the end, because the team doesn’t want to do counter-terrorist guys? Say they want to be in a mercenary setting? That’s possible."
This past June Ubisoft revealed that Patriots was still under development for next generation consoles, despite their relative silence around the title.
