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.

At the Six Invitational, Ubisoft revealed a series of major announcements reflecting its vision for the next seasons of Rainbow Six Siege. This ambitious Year 11 plan introduces a focus on the core gameplay offer, including updates to Ranked and a new competitive mode, R6 ShieldGuard anti-cheat improvements, and compelling new content to keep players engaged each season. Starting with the launch of Season One: Operation Silent Hunt on March 3, these announcements reinforce the team’s commitment to community priorities and strengthening the core 5v5 experience to support its continued growth as a top tactical shooter. 

Year 11’s Season 1, Operation Silent Hunt, brings a powerful new permanent Operator from Konami’s legendary Metal Gear Solid series—Solid Snake. This iconic attacker will give players access to an intel gathering gadget never seen before in Siege, as well as a brand-new secondary weapon—the legendary handgun TACIT .45—a semi-automatic pistol with an integrated suppressor built for covert operations. Solid Snake combines stealth, agility, and tactical intelligence, offering valuable recon abilities for attacking players to gain the advantage in a match. 

“We’re excited to bring the world of Metal Gear Solid series into Rainbow Six Siege with Season 1’s new Redacted event, a limited‑time 4v4 infiltration mode where Snake and Zero lead a team of elite Operators to recover stolen data. Players will also discover exclusive skins such as Jackal as Gray Fox and Ash as Meryl, and we’re thrilled to have David Hayter lend his iconic voice to Snake’s in‑game cues” says Joshua Mills, Creative Director. ”The team also went a step further with ‘Last Assignment’, a new mission for Dual Front designed as a special nod to long‑time Metal Gear Solid series fans.” 

Also coming in Season 1, Siege is releasing a new limited 2-week long 1v1 mode to the Arcade playlist. Players will face off in short, high-intensity rounds centered on solo gunplay, movement, and mechanical prowess. This fast-paced duel mode strips Siege down to its fundamentals and offers players the opportunity to challenge friends and random online players alike, or to test their pure mechanical duel skills. Additionally, three modernized maps will launch, bringing improved visuals and new destructible ingredients to Oregon, Coastline and Villa. Finally, the Siege team announced that Season 1 will be Dual Front’s last season, with this mode to be removed following one final Metal Gear Solid series themed event. The removal of Dual Front represents another step in the team’s renewed focus on the core 5v5 experience. This shift ensures that players of the core Siege experience will continue to benefit from the team’s work, made possible thanks to the key technology that was developed for—and through—Dual Front. Lastly, Season 1 brings a new seasonal cadence with four balancing updates and two Ranked map rotations, as well as a meta focused on Entry and Roaming, driven by changes to Skopos, Alibi, and Ela. 

Seasons 2, 3, and 4 will welcome many new features, enhancing the gameplay to a unique experience. The integration of a Secure boot, named R6 ShieldGuard Secure Platform, will add a deeper anti-cheat protection layer to PC. Its objective is to strengthen security where competitive integrity matters most. Y11 will also deliver an Operator remaster in Season 2, with Dokkaebi evolving into a high-pressure intel-denial Attacker, loaded with a new weapon as part of her reinforced combat identity. This season will also bring a brand-new map that pays homage to Rainbow’s iconic Vegas era, Calypso Casino. Designed with today’s competitive standards, this map will be available in Ranked mode when it’s released. Season 3 will kick off with the addition of a brand-new Defender to the squad, a powerful counter shield Operator. Siege will deliver a brand-new long-term progression system—Operator Mastery*—that will allow to level every single Operator, and a new 3v3 arcade mode for a 2-week limited time. The new competitive playlist Legend Division, also coming in Season 3, is a solo-queue playlist only for the best players to become champions, elevating the game’s core 5v5 competitive foundation and experience. Y11 updates will include three modernized maps per season. Finally, Season 4 will unveil the Social HUB. It will offer players an in-game space to exchange with friends, send invites, and manage their squad, no matter what platform they use. A rework of Hostage will feature Season 4 to ensure it fits Siege’s tactical DNA and works on a competitive level. Full details for Season 4 will be unveiled later this year. 

On February 23rd, Rainbow Six arrives on mobile globally. Players will be able to download it on iOS and Android and play with more than 20 operators on iconic maps such as Bank, Border, Clubhouse, Oregon, and Villa. Game modes will include Bomb, Bomb Rush, Team Deathmatch, Ranked, Quick Play, and Private matches. Rainbow Six Mobile will feature new content and seasonal updates, offering 5v5 matches using drones, barricades, cameras, and traps.

PLAYER PROTECTION IN YEAR 11

In Year 11, the Siege team is delivering important changes across our account security, anti-cheat, and anti-toxicity systems. This year, we're sharing an early update on Player Protection ahead of the Year 11 Reveal, giving players clear visibility into what we're working on.

These updates build on recent learnings and reinforce our long-term commitment to fair competition and safer player experience.

Here's an overview of Year 11's Player Protection efforts from topic leads Lancelot Satge, Matthieu Sola and Christopher Budgen.

GAME & ACCOUNT SECURITY

Following the recent cyberattack, player inventories were restored. While we are continuing our investigation, there is no indication that players' personal data or any source code was compromised.

In Year 11, additional security measures will be introduced to reduce account theft and improve overall protection. This includes pushing app-based two-factor authentication for key features such as Ranked play and the Marketplace.

Buying, selling, sharing, or trading accounts is not allowed under our Terms of Service. These actions fuel the grey market, encourage account theft, and contribute to the cheating ecosystem.

MARKETPLACE TEMPORARILY CLOSED

The Marketplace remains temporarily closed while several improvements are completed. These improvements include stronger account security, enhanced fraud detection, and refined economy management.

This work is expected to take several months. The team is actively working as quickly as possible to implement these protections so the Marketplace can reopen safely and reliably.

R6 SHIELDGUARD

At the start of Year 10 Season 4, we saw a surge of player concerns across social channels regarding cheating, particularly at the highest ranks. High-ranked players and content creators were significantly more likely to encounter cheaters, even though overall cheating was lower in other ranks compared to previous seasons. Because of the impact this had on competitive integrity, the team took immediate action.

R6 ShieldGuard has since been strengthened through team expansion, improved tools, and faster response capabilities. While cheating methods continue to evolve, these changes have improved the team's ability to detect and respond to new threats.

R6 SHIELDGUARD SECURE PLATFORM

This year, we're introducing the R6 ShieldGuard Secure Platform, a new layer of protection built around Secure Boot technology.

Secure Boot is a system-level security feature used on modern PCs to help ensure only trusted software runs when a system starts. Building on this foundation, R6 ShieldGuard Secure Platform helps secure the game environment before you've even launched the game.

It will first be deployed in Top of the Ladder, the codename for an upcoming highly competitive playlist. This is intentional: cheating has the greatest impact at the highest levels of play, where advanced techniques are most common. Deploying R6 ShieldGuard Secure Platform here lets us validate both effectiveness and player experience under the most demanding conditions. We'll be sharing more details about Top of the Ladder during the Year 11 Reveal.

The rollout will begin with a limited test phase, followed by full deployment to eligible players in the Top of the Ladder playlist. This phased approach lets us harden the system, improve reliability, and communicate clearly with players before considering broader deployment. Our long-term goal is to strengthen competitive integrity across Siege, and this approach ensures we take informed, confident next steps.

MOUSE AND KEYBOARD ON CONSOLE

OFFICIAL MOUSE AND KEYBOARD SUPPORT

Official mouse and keyboard support is coming to console. When a mouse or keyboard is connected, players will automatically be placed into the PC input matchmaking pool, not the console pool. This ensures fair competition while giving console players a legitimate way to use their preferred input.

With an official option available, input spoofing will be handled more strictly.

MOUSETRAP BANS & RECOIL MACRO DETECTION

Starting in Year 11, players that use spoofing devices to allow the illegitimate use of mouse and keyboard on console will now be banned when detected by MouseTrap. Detection improvements will also address macro scripts and other input manipulation methods. These updates will come later this year, with our macro detection rolling out to PC first, then consoles.

BOOSTING & SMURFING

Stronger actions are being introduced against boosting and smurfing.

Players who intentionally squad with cheaters, participate in account sharing, or use secondary accounts to disrupt lower ranks will be targeted. These efforts aim to protect Siege's competitive integrity and improve the experience for new and lower-ranked players.

ANTI-TOXICITY

Year 10 introduced the foundation for live moderation and the Reputation System. These efforts reduced critical toxic communications by 50 percent and overall toxicity exposure by 25 percent.

These systems will be reinforced throughout Year 11 to improve fairness, accuracy, and player trust. Updates include better reporting feedback, clearer visibility on moderation actions, and continued improvements to live text and voice moderation.

Changes are also coming to the Abandon System to reduce match dodging at higher ranks while avoiding unfair penalties caused by technical issues.

FINAL NOTE

Player Protection remains a top priority for Rainbow Six Siege, and together with your feedback, we are continually evolving our systems to keep the game fair, secure, and enjoyable. Our goal is to create an environment where skill and strategy define success, preserving the competitive integrity that is at the heart of Siege.
If you experience toxic behavior or encounter cheating during a match, please use the in-game Reporting System. Player reports play a key role in strengthening our protection systems and improving the experience for everyone. By reinforcing our Player Protection measures, we aim to ensure every match is meaningful, every player is respected, and every victory is earned.

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.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC.