Rainbow Six Goyo rework delayed: Ubisoft opens up on Siege defender’s changes

Andrew Amos
Goyo and Amaru in Rainbow Six Siege

The Goyo rework promised at the start of Rainbow Six Year 6 is being delayed again in Operation High Calibre. Changes to the Mexican defender will be bigger than originally planned, meaning a Tachanka-like overhaul could be on the cards.

Rainbow Six Year 6 has been all about cleaning up the game with new quality of life fixes each season, along with a host of reworks and big balance changes.

While several operators like Twitch, Mira, and most recently Finka have found themselves in the patch notes, one name has eluded them despite Ubisoft’s promises: Goyo.

The Mexican defender, with his explosive Vulkan shields, has been a tricky operator to balance. While there’s certainly a lot of power in the shields, they gave him a very linear playstyle that Ubisoft wanted to expand on.

The Goyo changes will have to wait until 2022 however, with no mention of him in the Operation High Calibre patch notes.

Goyo holding Vector SMG in Rainbow Six Siege
Goyo’s long-awaited rework won’t be coming in Rainbow Six Year 6.

“We hate to make you wait a little bit longer, but Goyo’s rework still needs some more time,” Ubisoft admitted in a November 9 blog post.

“Originally announced during the Year 6 reveal, our team had ⁠— and still has ⁠— plans for Goyo, but as the year has progressed, other Operators have shifted and changed.

“We discovered that the change we have in mind requires us to completely redo his animations, [and] it has taken more time than originally anticipated.”

The Goyo rework was aimed at separating his Vulkan shields into just the fuel component. With no more explosive shields, Goyo would have been more dynamic with where he could have placed his canisters.

They would be protected from stray bullets for the most part, but easily shot by Goyo and his allies to make the attacker’s push just that little bit harder.

However, with a complete redo of his animations, Ubisoft could be looking at bigger changes on a similar scale to their total Tachanka overhaul in Rainbow Six Year 5.

Tachanka in Rainbow Six
Tachanka’s rework in Rainbow Six: Siege was Ubisoft’s first major operator overhaul.

Regardless, the Goyo rework hasn’t been forgotten about, and players can expect more news on the changes early in Rainbow Six Year 7 ⁠— which kicks off in February 2022.

“We know this is something a lot of you are waiting for and it’s still in the works on our end, so we just ask for a little more time to make sure we release a rework all you past, present and future Goyo mains can be happy about!”

About The Author

Hailing from Perth, Andrew was formerly Dexerto's Australian Managing Editor. They love telling stories across all games and esports, but they have a soft spot for League of Legends and Rainbow Six. Oh, and they're also fascinated by the rise of VTubers.