The upcoming action title Rainbow Six: Siege (releases on December 1) has been presented as a full price game ever since its announcement. Even so, the game will include mechanics that seem very similar to those found in free-to-play games.
More specifically, it's been revealed that the 8 DLC operators planned for the game post launch, will require you to play for 25 hours each before they unlock. In other words, it will take you around 200 hours to unlock them all, unless you opt for the other option of simply paying for them. In exchange for 600 R6 Credits, which cost £3.99, you can get one operator instantly. Similarly, you can get them all for £31.92.
This information has already to reactions directed towards developer Ubisoft, but the French developer claims to have valid reasons for their setup:
"The data we have suggests that the average FPS player spends 8-10 hours a week playing their favorite FPS (also in-line with our observation during the closed beta), so it should only take between two to three weeks maximum to unlock an operator", Ubisoft explains. "With about three months between each Season of content, we hope players with regular game time won't have trouble saving up enough Renown to unlock both new operators upon their release."
Meanwhile, the same logic is not used for the 20 operators included in the base game, which will unlock "much quicker". The 25 hour requirement only applies to the operators that will be released through DLC packs.
Apart from the DLC operators, we will also be able to use R6 Credits (bought with real money) to acquire things like premium weapon skins, "Renown Boosters". On the other hand, new maps and modes for the game will be released for free of charge for all players, with no special unlocks. It's an interesting setup, and the good news is that it won't split the playerbase.
Source: rainbow6.ubi.com.