R6Share Full Kit '23 Astralis

astralis R6Share Rainbow Six Siege esports Gaming R6 ubisoft

INTRODUCTION

Astralis hired me to lead the creation of their R6Share Full Kit 2023 including in-game items such as a weapon skin, headgear, uniform and card background for the operator "Jäger" in the multiplayer first person shooter "Rainbow Six Siege" developed by Ubisoft.

The challenge was to create an outstanding and eyecatching design with bright colors which will be liked by big parts of the community and focuses on develping a good skin rather than only creating something to have the brand represented.

In the following I will present the designs we created for each part of the project.

Unfortunately, Astralis announced that they were pulling out of Rainbow Six Siege esports, which resulted in this R6Share kit being cancelled just weeks before release. Nevertheless, the project was completed, all skins were already in the game files and ready to be released along with skins for other T1 esports organizations.

THEME & COLORS

The overall theme of the bundle was originally supposed to be Formula 1 and racing in general. We created early concepts with a Formula 1 car illustration but it didn't really convince us so we decided to switch the theme to a woman wearing a futuristic mask which is inspired by a japanese male demon, called "Oni".

For the colors we decided to go with a 80's Miami Vice/Synthwave/Vaporwave theme. Our inspiration for the bundle was the "Neon Rider" skin from "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive" and even though we switched up the theme we sticked with the colors.

This allows us to use bright neon colors, mostly light blue/turquoise and pink. These colors are very vibrant and make us to stand out from the other bundles released.

WEAPON SKIN

The weapon skin design is without a doubt the most important item of an R6Share bundle, which is why it should have top priority. Accordingly, we have devoted the most time to the weapon skin.

Jäger's weapon in the game is the 416-C, the unbranded and unlicensed carbine variant of the Heckler & Koch 416 assault rifle.

It features the illustration of the woman with the Oni-inspired mask, cherry blossoms that entwine to the top of the barrel, typical Astralis branding like "To The Stars" and the Astralis logo, as well as numerous easter eggs. The grip of the gun has a noble leather look with double stitching and a custom created embossed Astralis pattern.

On the barrel of the gun are small carbon fiber elements which, as well as the grip design, are originally left over from the Formula 1 theme but look very good and modern so we kept them. My favorite detail is that a tooth of the mask acts as the trigger of the weapon. Incorporating the shapes of the weapon into the design of a weapon skin is what really makes a design unique.

We also highlighted the unique details and shapes of the weapon to give the skin more detail and depth. This way the weapon skin stands out from the crowd of skins and impresses with vibrant colors and a great illustration.

ILLUSTRATION AND LORE

In my imagination this illustration shows a woman living in the futuristic Japan where cyberpunk design elements and body mods have become normal. She got an artificial jaw as well as eyes after an accident and wanted her mask to be inspired by an Oni.

But she decided to make it her own and don't comply with the rules and standards

of the stereotypical design.

The mask looks futuristic and mechanic, the teeth sharp and aggressive and the artificially improved eyes are a hommage to Valkyrie's "Black Eyes".

This is solely my own interpretation and idea of who this character is that we created. This isn't official lore and was never approved by Astralis

TRANSLATIONS

"16年設立" translates to "established in 16" and refers to Astralis being founded in 2016 as well as matching with the name of the weapon "416-C".

"シリアルナンバー" translates to "serial number" followed by the serial number of the weapon skin including an easter egg.

"鬼" translates to "Oni" or "male demon" and can be found on the side of the mask.

All translations were doublechecked and confirmed by a native japanese speaker and writer working in esports in general and Rainbow Six Siege specifically.

HEADGEAR

I have always liked headgears which feature a face mask with a skull, evil looking teeth or something comparable on it. These just always look the best and most aggressive to me so I decided I want to create something similar

The obvious choice in this case was to use the mouth or teeth of an Oni.

We tried to make the illustration look very futuristic and high tech in order to match

the style of the illustration of the mask on the weapon skin. We also kept everything

in black and white since the rest of the headgear is already quite colorful.

The base model of the headgear is the G2 Esports 2020 headgear as it has a more modern and aggressive shape than the default model of the Jäger headgear.

UNIFORM

The uniform aims to look clean and modern and was originally inspired by the look of the old pro league bundles. These always looked clean and polished while staying somewhat simple.

The design incorporates multiple design elements from the weapon skin such as the classic geometrical Astralis pattern that was used for the leather grip texture or the color gradient and overall color scheme.

CARD BACKGROUND

The card background is the two dimensional graphic which can be potrayed behind the selected operator in-game. It shows in the main menu and in the operator selection screen mid-game.

This design was inspired by classic 80's Miami Vice/Synthwave/Vaporwave wallpapers.

It features the Astralis logo incorporated in the sun, two japanese temples and the well known rectangular pattern on the ground. Additionally the stars around the sun are small Astralis logos.