Ubisoft has detailed the changes coming to its evergreen team shooter as part of its big Rainbow Six Siege X update – dubbed the game’s most transformative change yet.
Set to land on 10th June, the update will be headlined by Dual Front, a fresh six-vs-six mode with area control gameplay set on a new map, District.
With the launch of Rainbow Six Siege X, the game will essentially go free-to-play, with access to Dual Front, Unranked and Quick Play modes and the ability to “earn up to 26 operators through progression”, Ubisoft says.
The game’s Ranked Mode and Siege Cup, as well as access to more operators, will then be part of the game’s premium editions.
Other big changes coming to the game include a visual refresh for classic Siege maps Clubhouse, Chalet, Border, Bank and Kafe, with three further enhanced maps rolling out in each future season.
As well as “up to 4K” textures, these updated maps will also include destructible items, more fluid rappel navigation, and boast better audio cues.
There’s a new anti-cheat system, too, dubbed R6 ShieldGuard, that is designed to add “live security updates that will occur without the need for scheduled maintenance, making cheats difficult to create”.
If all of that sounds interesting, there’s a closed beta for Dual Front live now until 19th March which you can play on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. However, you’ll have to watch content creators play the game on Twitch to earn a closed beta invite, which sounds a faff – there’s more detail on how it works on Ubisoft’s website.
Rainbow Six Siege X’s announcement comes as Ubisoft seeks to double down on its strengths – including lots of Assassin’s Creed – while the company continues to cut costs and court a potential sale.