Ubisoft has lifted the lid on its Rainbow Six Siege 12 months 11 roadmap, and it is promising to be one of many greatest years ever for the tactical FPS. The opening story trailer reveals that, two years after the shutdown of Rainbow, a brand new menace calls an outdated face again into motion – Bishop, the protagonist of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2. There’s lots extra apart from that to stay up for as new inventive director Joshua Mills, his predecessor Alex Karpazis, and reside content material director Christopher Budgen share every thing coming in 2026, together with the arrival of Strong Snake and a visit to the legendary Calypso On line casino.
“I might be mendacity if I did not say I used to be nerding out about Bishop and what his function might be in the way forward for Rainbow”, Mills remarks. “That is 12 months 11: extra Siege, extra typically, and again to our roots.” The main focus for the approaching 12 months of Rainbow Six Siege is 5v5 and a continued emphasis on ranked play, Budgen explains. In service of that is what the crew is dubbing ‘Ranked 3.0’, coming in Season 2. Placement matches are again initially of every season, and champion divisions will pit the very best of the very best in opposition to each other.
On the peak of all of it is the legend division, which might be restricted to solo queue and require you to succeed in champion rank earlier than you’ll be able to participate. That is coming in Season 3, and also will make use of the brand new layer of Rainbow Six Shieldguard that implements the system-level Home windows Safe Boot characteristic for added safety, as Ubisoft continues its struggle in opposition to cheaters and toxicity. Moreover, Season 2 will introduce official mouse and keyboard assist for consoles, permitting gamers to decide in to becoming a member of the PC matchmaking pool; Mills emphasizes that anybody making an attempt to get round this “might be banned”.
You may stay up for each 1v1 and 3v3 arcade modes that may seem in Season 1 and Season 3 respectively. “If that is as huge as we expect it’s, we’ll assist it primarily based on the reception, and see if the demand for a ranked expertise is there too”, Karpazis provides. Ubisoft has additionally launched a brand new social hub, designed because the place to squad up with pals or current gamers. It is nonetheless a piece in progress and will not be right here till Season 4, however Mills says it “marks a brand new starting of what we envision for social interactions in Siege”.
Rainbow Six Siege 12 months 11 Season 1 is ‘Operation Silent Hunt’, and kicks off on Tuesday March 3. It is all themed across the arrival of the enduring Strong Snake from the Metallic Gear Strong sequence, who’s voiced right here by David Hayter. Snake as an operator has entry to a handheld Soliton Radar that reveals a direct top-down view of his environment, with coloured markers indicating if there are surveillance cameras or enemy operators close by. It makes use of a chargeable battery, and could be activated to straight pinpoint the situation and dealing with of close by threats, though they will be alerted that they are being watched.
Snake’s main weapons of alternative are the F2 (full with new grips) and the PMR90A2, whereas his pistol is the brand new Tacit .45. Nevertheless, he is additionally bringing his basic ‘on-site procurement’ strategy to proceedings. He begins with only one use of an attacker-type grenade, gadget, or breach cost, however can scavenge from pouches dropped by useless operators, deciding on precisely what he desires to acquire from every pickup.
In accordance with Snake becoming a member of the roster, Season 1 is themed round ‘entry and roaming’. Skopós is getting upgrades to her shells, which now transfer quicker, hit more durable, and are able to breaking smooth destructible surfaces with a punch. She will be able to additionally change between the shells quicker, with the cooldown dropped to only half a second between swaps. Among the many different operators seeing modifications for the beginning of 12 months 11 are Ela, Alibi, Amaru, Ying, and Flores.
A brand new ‘Redacted’ occasion brings further acquainted faces from Metallic Gear to the fray, with unique skins resembling Meryl, Grey Fox, and Revolver Ocelot all making an look. When you’re after extra particular cosmetics, Ubisoft is introducing new, coloured variants of the elusive Black Ice design. 12 months 11 Season 1 may also be the ultimate run for Twin Entrance, and it is getting an MGS twist for its grand finale, together with the chance to choose up all previous rewards which have ever appeared within the mode.
In Season 2, we’ll be getting a brand new map impressed by Rainbow Six Vegas, the Calypso On line casino. It’s going to arrive in ranked on day one, and you may anticipate “slot machines, blackjack tables, and loads of easter eggs” to find. Season 2’s operator remaster might be Dokkaebi, who will get “the identical sort of impactful change we noticed with Thatcher”. She’ll not be capable of goal all hostiles without delay, as an alternative taking a extra private strategy. Mills additionally notes that there might be “no extra early entry on weapons” and that they’re going to be obtainable to all from the get-go.
Season 3 will see the introduction of “a brand-new, long-term development system”, Operator Mastery. This can mark your development with every particular person character, incomes you methods to indicate off your proficiency with the assorted members of the roster. A brand new defender is coming in Season 3 that acts as a counter to protect customers, with a weapon that is teased as being able to blasting straight by means of their protecting boundaries like a breach cost.
A brand new testing grounds playlist is deliberate for 12 months 11 Season 4 that may embody some new strategic choices, corresponding to half reinforcements. “That is huge, and we’d like your opinion earlier than deploying it to the sport,” Karpazis remarks. Hostage mode can be being reworked, and the crew’s exploring “how you can deliver it again into ranked play”. The Grand Larceny occasion is making its comeback in Season 4, together with a drone secondary gadget for attackers, one other operator remaster, and a cross-operator weapon.
“12 months 11 is about strengthening the core 5v5 expertise”, Mills concludes. Trying in the direction of the longer term, the crew at Ubisoft has yet another promise – beginning in 12 months 12, it’s going to be returning to a rollout of 4 new operators, one per season. That may be a way off, however there is definitely no scarcity of additives to maintain us busy within the meantime.
