Rainbow Six: Siege proves that those ‘free weekends’ work

August was a huge month for game sales in the United States. Software spending was up 16 percent year-over-year to $285 million, according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege was one of the games driving that growth. It finished the month as the No. 3 best-seller behind Madden NFL 19 and Monster Hunter: World.

Rainbow Six: Siege debuted December 2015. But age is nothing but a number when it comes to games-as-a-service. If you need evidence of that, just ask 60-month-old Grand Theft Auto V, whose Grand Theft Auto online continues to push sales. What really matters to gamers these days is that a game seems like it is active and interesting. In August, publisher Ubisoft was able to prove just that about Siege.