For the first time in a Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six game, players will engage in sieges, a new style of assault where enemies have the means to transform their environments into modern strongholds while Rainbow Six teams lead the assault to breach the enemy’s position. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege gives players unprecedented control over their ability to fortify their position - by reinforcing walls and floors, using barbed wire, deployable shields and mines, and more - or breach the enemies’ using observation drones, sheet charges, rappelling, and more. The fast pace, lethality and uniqueness of each siege sets a new bar for intense firefights, strategic gameplay and competitive gaming.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege also features a technological breakthrough that redefines the way players interact with a game environment. Leveraging Ubisoft Montreal’s proprietary Realblast engine, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege incorporates procedural destruction that is realistic and unscripted, meaning the environment reacts authentically, distinctively and dynamically, based on variables like the caliber of bullets or the amount of explosives used. This advance allows players to leverage destruction in meaningful ways. Walls can be shattered, opening new lines of fire. Ceilings and floors can be breached to create new access points. This ability to modify the level design in real time enables players to create new gameplay opportunities directly within the game level.

Operation Skull Rain includes two new Operators: Caveira and Capitão, both from Brazil’s Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais (BOPE). The new Operators will be instantly available to Season Pass holders, who will have exclusive access to them for the first seven days.

Caveira is the defensive Operator of the two. As such, she possesses the “Silent Step” skill that enables her to sneak up on enemies to immobilize and then interrogate them to reveal their teammates’ location. Her arsenal includes an M12 and SPAS-15 for primary weapons, a PRB92 as a secondary, and Nitro Cell C4 and Barbed Wire for gadgets.

As the attacker, Capitão carries a tactical crossbow that can fire asphyxiating bolts that burn oxygen within a certain radius, as well as micro smoke grenades that can mask positions and team movements. Capitão also has an M-249 and PARA-308 for primary weapon options, a PRB92 for secondary, and frag and stun grenades rounding out his available arsenal.

Operation Skull Rain will also have a new map for teams to do battle. Set in a Brazilian favela, this new map supports exterior shell destruction, making it Rainbow Six Siege’s most destructible map to date. The new map will be free for all players.

Finally, the development team will also add several tweaks and improvements to the overall Rainbow Six Siege experience. Perhaps the biggest of these is the addition of a Tactical Realism custom game mode. By popular request, the Tactical Realism mode prevents players from marking enemies, allowing only the timer, compass, gadget, and weapon panels to be visible in the HUD. Additionally, there are no kill confirmations, and more realistic magazine management will be put into play. The idea is to push players to rely even more on their teammates and communication for information on enemy locations and kill counts.

A new angled grip attachment and a new surrender system will also be introduced in the update. The angled grip makes the transition between hip fire and ADS much faster, creating a faster-paced style of combat. Meanwhile, the new surrender system makes it possible for your team to surrender during a ranked match with a majority vote, but matches can only be surrendered before the third round.

More details on Operation Skull Rain will be revealed during the Season Two Xbox Pro League Finals livestream on July 30 at 3AM CET.

Key Features

• Counter terrorist operatives are trained to handle extreme situations, such as hostage rescue, with surgical precision. As “short range” specialists, their training is concentrated on indoor environments. Operating in tight formations, they are experts of close quarter combat, demolition, and coordinated assaults.
• For the first time in Rainbow Six, players will engage in sieges, a brand-new style of assault. Enemies now have the means to transform their environments into strongholds: they can trap, fortify, and create defensive systems to prevent breach by Rainbow teams. To face this challenge, players have a level of freedom unrivaled by any previous Rainbow Six game. Combining tactical maps, observation drones, and a new rappel system, Rainbow teams have more options than ever before to plan, attack, and diffuse these situations.
• Destruction is at the heart of the siege gameplay. Leveraging Ubisoft Montreal’s proprietary Realblast engine, players now have the unprecedented ability to destroy environments. Walls can be shattered, opening new lines of fire, and ceiling and floors can be breached, creating new access points. Everything in the environment reacts realistically, dynamically, and uniquely based on the size and caliber of bullets you are using or the amount of explosives you have set. In Rainbow Six Siege, destruction is meaningful and mastering it is often the key to victory.