Rainbow Six Siege - free maps, post-launch plans, and everything else you need to know

News by Stephany Nunneley-Jackson Former News Editor

Published on Nov. 5, 2015

Ubisoft has dropped a ton of information on Rainbow Six Siege. There's plenty to take in, so let's get to it.

You can read the entire blog post in detail through the official website, but we've posted the important nuggets below in bullet form.

The game will be actively supported through gameplay balancing and tweaks, events and competitions, and four major content releases with no paywall on gameplay content.

Maps and modes will be free and available immediately for everyone.

A team of over 80 will be listening to fab feedback and monitoring gameplay statistics to ensure the operator system, multiplayer and Terrorist Hunt game modes will be continually expanded to "meet the demands of an evolving game."

Over the course of a year, new content will come in the form of “seasons” that coincide with ranked gameplay. This includes:

Four new maps (playable on both online multiplayer and Terrorist Hunt)
Eight new operators, with new primary/secondary weapons and unique Gadget
New cosmetic items
New game modes, events and/or activities

New operators and most weapon skins can be unlocked with earned currency called Renown, or with R6 Credits. The only new content that will be available exclusively by purchase will be premium weapon skins which are aesthetic only.

Renown is a currency earned in-game and used to unlock new content. It will be earned through Situations and Terrorist Hunt games, or competing in Online Multiplayer matches. It can be used to unlock operators, weapons and weapon skins and post-launch gameplay content.

There will be five different tiers of skins available initially for purchase and more added post-launch, with Tier 1, 2 and 3 unlockable with Renown and Tier 4 and 5 skins requiring R6 Credits to purchase. Some Tier 3 skins can be unlocked with Renown or R6 Credits.

R6 Credits are currency which can be purchased through the platform holder and used to quickly unlock wanted items. They can also be used to buy boosters for Renown, unlock operators and premium weapons skins all without spending Renown. There will be 5 packages available at launch: 600, 1200, 2670, 4920, 7560 R6 Credits.

Each new post-launch operator can be unlocked by playing approximately 25 hours (or 25,000 Renown). It should only "take between two to three weeks maximum" to unlock an operator and three months between each Season of content, allowing for enough Renown to be saved up.

Each operator can also be automatically accessed by spending 600 R6 Credits ($4.99 USD). The initial 20 operators at launch will be unlocked much quicker in the base progression system (500 Renown for first operator in a CTU, 1000 for the second, etc).

There will be five different tiers of weapon skins available for purchase with Tier 1, 2 and 3 unlockable with Renown and Tier 4 and 5 skins requiring R6 Credits to purchase. Some Tier 3 skins can be unlocked with Renown or R6 Credits.

Below is what players can expect in the post-launch content Black Ice coming in January 2016: