Ubisoft has revealed the roadmap for Rainbow Six Siege Year 9 and it is set to include two new operators, two operator remasters and PC and console cross-play.
The roadmap for year nine was revealed at the record-breaking Six Invitational, where Ubisoft confirmed some of what we can expect to see added to Siege in the coming months. First up is obviously Year 9 Season 1, which was revealed yesterday and features the first of two new operators coming this year; Deimos.
Deimos is an attacker who can track your location with his DeathMARK Tracker gadget that reveals the target’s precise location as a live ping and Deimos’ location until the gadget’s time runs out or one is killed. He is also the first-ever villain to be a playable operator in Rainbow Six Siege, having been captured by the Rainbow group in the game’s lore.
Season 1 also brings with it overhauls to shields, which should make them more tank-focused than damage, attachments and ADS, which should massively change how fights play out and the addition of the Locker that should make managing your cosmetics much easier.
Then we get to Season 2, which will include the first remaster of the year and it is a somewhat unexpected choice, with the Recruit getting an overhaul. While it has probably been years since most players touched the Recruit, given it is the basic standard operator with no real fun toys to use, the overhaul will likely complement the other changes the dev team wants to make to make starting or returning to Siege a lot easier.
Season 2 will also include the full release of the Reputation System; map filters in the Standard Playlist; new maps and new Target drills in the Map Training Playlist; and the full release of Siege Marketplace, as well as further balancing updates.
Season 3 brings the second new operator of the year, who will hail from Greece. That’s all we know at this point, with the full operator reveal still expected to be a while away, but we do know that this season will also include the Siege Cup event, a competitive tournament system in-game that will offer players unique rewards should they do well. There will also be improvements to the versus AI mode that allows you to play as defenders and the introduction of a badge system that seems like a way to show off how good you are.
Finally rounding out the year is Season 4, which will include a rework to an American operator and interestingly the expansion of cross-play between PC and console. Presumably, this will include separate queues for those using a controller and those using a keyboard and mouse given how different they are to play with.
Of course, throughout the year there will be a lot of balancing changes, with the dev team aiming to stop the run-and-gun play style that dominates high-level play and return Siege to its roots of being a tactical shooter where equipment is key.
