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 Osaka Major, Ubisoft revealed Operation Vital Signal.

Player feedback stays central to this update, featuring a major remaster for Doc, a new defender weapon, separated Ranked Solo/Duo and Flex playlists, a targeted map update to Bank, more modernized maps, the return of both a fan favorite and a winter-themed seasonal events and a brand-new social hub. 

Highlights

• Doc Operator Remaster - With his new E-HEAL Monitor system, Doc can remotely heal and revive teammates across the map without exposing himself to unnecessary risk. Patches pre-attached to teammates can be remotely triggered, providing proactive support to roamers taking aggressive engagements. 

• New MBZ-19 Weapon - a high-power primary weapon boasting a 64-round magazine and 33 damage per round at a steady 750 RPM—available across select defender loadouts including Jäger, Warden, and Thunderbird. 
• Major Balancing Changes - Thunderbird’s Kona Station count has been increased to 4 with a reduced cooldown of 10 seconds (down from 15s), and stations now boast a brand-new ability: cleansing stun and concussion effects which strengthen her role as an anchor defender. Weapon balancing includes turning down the damage and magazine capacities of the ACS12 and TCSG12 shotguns aimed to promote cleaner weapon dynamics across defense setups. This is just the beginning, as Ubisoft looks to continue listening to community concerns with more much awaited changes at the Mid-Season Update. 
• Competitive Play Overhaul - The Ranked ecosystem is splitting into dedicated Ranked Solo/Duo and Ranked Flex playlists. Solo/DuoQ provides a fair, level playing field for individual and duo players to test their skill, while Flex Queue caters to larger squads looking for more coordinated group play. Cross-Queue Matchmaking guarantees smooth queue times across all squad sizes, while the required account level to access Ranked has been reduced from Level 50 to 30 to help newer players jump into the action sooner. 
• New Targeted Map Update – Bank enters the list as the second map to receive a targeted update, as a new entry point behind the building speeds up attacker entry and adds important exterior cover, shaking up defensive hold options on the 2nd floor site. The Modernized Maps initiative also continues with visual and gameplay enhancements for Yacht, Favela, and Tower. 
• Social Hub Feature - Season 4 also introduces new and improved ways to connect and play, highlighted by the debut of the Social Hub overlay for easier squad creation and friend management. Players can test new tactical prototypes in the temporary Testing Grounds playlist featuring Half-Reinforcements. 
• Seasonal Events - Season 4 kicks off the Freeze for All: Permafrost event featuring an 8-player free-for-all mode, followed by the return of the fan-favorite Grand Larceny event in February.  

• Winter Daily Rewards - For the first time since their introduction, Celebration Packs are coming back. The Winter Daily Rewards bring you 20 rewards in total, and five of them are Celebration Packs, each with a chance at two of Siege’s most iconic skins. Gold Dust and Glacier are returning alongside a Brand-new animated weapon Skin for the T-5 SMG. Starting December 1, log in and claim your rewards throughout the holiday period (Until January 15th). 
• New Testing Ground Content - The season launch will also re-invite players to directly help us shape the future of Siege through the return of the temporary Testing Grounds playlist. This time around, it will allow the community to hands-on test an innovative Defender secondary gadget prototype: Half-Reinforcements. Deployed and handled identically to traditional full reinforcements. The experimental addition aims to develop defensive setup options further, giving players a chance to pitch in without needing to jump onto the Test Server. This playlist will run from January 19th through February 2nd. 

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.