Aside from the new operator set to be released in Operation Deadly Omen, which is the first season of Rainbow Six Siege’s ninth year, Ubisoft also has a spread of new changes, additions, and more all scheduled for this year. Today, the studio revealed the Rainbow Six Siege Year 9 content, changes, the new features players can expect, and even the roadmap!

Bear in mind that there’s no release dates for each new season just yet, but we do have an overview of what’s set to come in each season. We’ve also included the info from the press release and videos for each topic, with added info from the game’s community.

Rainbow Six Siege Year 9 – What to Expect:

SEASON 1:

More info on Deimos available here

• New attacker: Deimos
• Updated shield mechanics
• Attachment changes:
  • Iron sights, 1x sights, magnified scopes
  • Laser Sights
  • Grips
• Cosmetic Locker to manage all cosmetics
• Azami/LMG Balancing
• Battle pass + event

SEASON 2

• Operator Remaster: Recruit
  • 2 Recruits
  • Full Operator Status – Can appear in every playlist, can be customised (headgear/uniform)
  • Intended to give recruit an impact and focus on all operators across the board
• Battle Pass Owners are given an operator voucher to purchase ANY operator or redeemed for R6 credits if you own every operator
• Battle pass + event

SEASON 3

• New Operator hailing from: Greece
  • Will bring a new weapon to their loadout
• Battle pass + event

SEASON 4

• Operator Remaster – “From the USA, has been long requested”
  • Hinted as being someone with a beard…!
• Another operator voucher rewarded for Battle Pass owners (same as Year 9 Season 2)
• Battle pass + event

PLAYER PROTECTION:

Rainbow Six Siege remains committed to fair, resonant gameplay for all players and maintains a zero-tolerance policy for toxicity and cheating. New strike teams will be able to update and reinforce anti-cheat solutions more regularly, including the QB System for PC users and Mousetrap for Console users. Year 9 continues to build on player protection features, such as new ranked playlist requirements, an update to the Reputation System, and improvements to data bans. In particular, the team improved on the machine learning-based data bans to be more effective in reducing the impact of cheaters, alongside improved account bans on PC. Mousetrap will be implemented within the Reputation System and there will be a full release of automated text chat moderation.

• “Hackers/Cheaters have no space in Siege”
• Season 1: New technology, Machine Learning to ban based on data + statistics
  • Analyse complete Siege population, identify cheaters quickly and banned ASAP
• S1 Ranked playlist: New restrictions for new and returning players
  • Make it tougher for cheaters to enter playlist
• Toxicity:
  • Every season will feature an update to the reputation system
  • Text Chat – Automated Moderation introduced in Season 4
• S2: Reputation System will leave beta
  • Consequences (E.g. Playlist restrictions) will be introduced for low reputation scores
• S2: PC Specific – Harder for cheaters to use multiple accounts on same system
• Mouse trap
  • S3:
    • Implemented into the reputation system
    • Will be penalised if detected as using MnK on console (E.g. playlist restriction)
  • S4
    • Automatically placed into PC matchmaking pool if detected by Mouse Trap
• Season 4: Live Banning
  • Cheaters will be banned mid-match, match immediately cancelled with no MMR penalty
• Year Long Effort:
  • Harden security systems; reinforcing mouse trap and QB (PC Anticheat).
  • Growing team dedicated to game exploits to identify them faster and eliminate ASAP
• Communication:
  • Every two months Ubisoft will communicate with players on state of the game

BALANCING:

The objective of balancing in Rainbow Six Siege this year is to break the run and gun meta to highlight utility and strategic play through emphasizing the balance between gunplay and utility. The goal is to ensure that gunplay is not the sole option in all situations, as well as reinforcing our Attackers lineup. In Year 9, the development team is focused on delivering meaningful balancing updates, split into three categories. The first being an Operator, loadout, or gadget update, to always be on top of current gameplay needs. The second category is system updates, split into separate entities that affect the game globally like an update to shotguns or attachments. The third and significant category is a remaster, which is the most in-depth change and affects Operators’ base stats, loadouts, gadget capability, and more. An Operator remaster is a reimagining of them and their in-game use, like Tachanka in recent years. To ensure the Operator roster remains impactful to play, remastered Operators will be chosen from their pick rates, ban rates, and if previous balancing levers were ineffective.

Consequently, the team will implement remasters for two Operators, as well as balancing for Solis, Azami, Fenrir, and others. Season 1 also adds an LMG update, which along with the attachment update and new balancing levers, makes this weapon class more viable.

• “TDM Meta is not here to stay”
• Reinforcing Attacker Lineup – reducing the disparity between strength of attackers and defenders
  • Giving armoury and tools they need
  • Dealings with powerhouse defenders
• Intent on tactical gameplay, punishing reckless gameplay
• Intend on being more reactive to player feedback, instead of waiting months for changes to be introduced
• Balancing Vocabulary
  • “Update” – E.g. Removing/Adding gadget
  • “System Update” – Larger changes, E.g. Updates to weapon class (I.e. Y9S1 LMG Changes)
  • “Remaster” – Largest update, large reworks
• Season 1:
  • ADS/Attachment updates
  • LMG + Shield mechanics
    • Hint at “exothermic charge behind shield”
  • Azami update – Kiba barrier durability
• Season 2:
  • Fenrir Update – Removing bulletproof functionality, remove 1 F-Natt and remove 1 code
  • Solis Update (Part 1) – No longer usable in prep phase, range reduction and faster battery drain
• Season 3:
  • Solis Update (Part 2) – No further details
  • Dokkaebi Update – No further details
• Season 4:
  • “Future balance update” – No further details

SIEGE CUP:

• Siege Cup: Sign up your team for tournaments

Player Comfort + Long-Term Progression

Player comfort updates intend to improve the quality of life and add features for a smoother Rainbow Six Siege experience. In Season 1, these include improvements to rappel entry and exit as well as improved gadget pickup. Also coming in Operation Deadly Omen is the Locker, an easier way for players to sort, favorite, and manage their collected items. Furthermore, a new badge and career system that celebrates players’ achievements will be added, encouraging them to earn badges and using the career page to see an overview of their progress.

Players can also expect previsualization to be implemented for mechanics like projectile trajectory, drone jump, and deployable gadgets. Previsualization allows players to be more confident and precise with their gadget use, effectively onboarding new or returning players to the current state of the game. Trajectory previsualization will be available in all game modes and can be turned on or off in settings.

Additionally, Year 9 plans to introduce improvements for matches, including a new 1v1 preset for custom games and a better matchmaking system. Dynamic matchmaking will be tuned to each specific region, so players will be matched appropriately, regardless of where or when they play. The development team plans to launch After-Action Report 2.0 to provide better visibility for the end of the matches and provide more details on the match played.

• Introduce long term progression system
• Season 1:
  • Cosmetic locker (Favourite cosmetics, see most recent acquisitions)
  • Rappel improvements, projectile trajectory, gadget pickup
• Season 2:
  • After-action report revamp (Commendations, scoreboard, progression and stats)
  • Drone jump trajectory visualisation
• Season 3:
  • Deployable gadget visualisation (E.g. Shields, Mute Jammers)
  • Shooting Range access during matchmaking
  • Badges and career
    • Earn achievements/challenges and equip badges to your operator (similar to operator cards)
    • Career page: View stats and last match
  • 1v1 custom game pre-set
• Season 4:
  • Dynamic Matchmaking
    • More flexible matchmaking for lower population zones
  • Crossplay
    • Console and PC Crossplay
    • One-way only: PC players cannot opt-in to play with console

Marketplace

• Aim to launch fully in Season 2.
• Beta will run until then

TRAINING & ONBOARDING:

To improve how new players are introduced to Rainbow Six Siege, fully revamped onboarding features introduced in Year 8, including new Tutorials, will continue to receive updates this year. Specifically, Year 9 will expand the Versus AI and Map Training Playlist modes introduced last season. Season 1 will bring additional Operators and maps to the Versus AI mode, helping players develop in-game strategies based on the AI’s behavior. In Season 2, onboarding updates will continue to add Operators and maps. Furthermore, Season 2 will introduce a large update to Target Drill in the Map Training Playlist and more improvements.

Season 3 brings a new cover lane to Shooting Range, new Drone Drill Playlist, as well as Additional Operators and Maps to the Versus AI Playlist. These features will offer players the effective tools to improve their competitive play and train strategic efficiency. Finally, Season 4 will receive more updates for the Versus AI and Maps Training Playlists, such as additional Operators and Maps. Understanding a map is key to succeeding in gameplay, and with more maps available, players can practice and develop stronger strategies across matches.

• Season 1, 2 and 3: Versus AI Playlist updates – New operators and maps
• Target Drill Update – More maps, pre-set destruction, headshots only, damage reports
• Season 3: Drone Drill. Cover Mode in shooting range (Target dummies take cover)
• Introduction of AI Attacker Playlist

SIEGE ESPORTS:

• Reintroducing Six Invitational Last Chance Qualifier
• May 2024 Blast R6 Major: Manchester, United Kingdom
• November 2024 Blast R6 Major: Montreal
• February 2025 Six Invitational: United States, East Coast
• 2026: France

Rainbow Six Siege Year 9 Roadmap:

YEAR 9 ROADMAP

Operation Deadly Omen, the first season of Year 9, brings the terrifying villain Deimos to players’ control. Additionally, season one will introduce important updates, such as a new inventory management menu. Known as the Locker, this system is an easier way for players to organize, view, and access their skins collection. Following the Year 8 Season 4 Test Server Lab, other updates include a revamped shield mechanic for more balanced play and an attachments & ADS upgrade. The ADS upgrade will reward and reinforce a tactical playstyle by reducing access to magnifying and supporting a methodical play style.

Season 2’s remasters will relaunch fully upgraded Operators and breathe new life into some old favorites, beginning with Recruit, the starting Operator. Additionally, Season 2 will introduce the following: 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.

Season 3 will introduce a new Greek Operator, long-awaited badges and career system, access to the Shooting Range during matchmaking, the Siege Cup tournament, and a revamped versus AI mode with a full new feature: AI can control attackers, allowing players to play as Defenders this time. The upcoming badge system is intended to celebrate and recognize player achievements, allowing players to showcase players’ dedication. Additionally, the Siege Cup event, a competitive tournament system, will offer players unique rewards. The new Versus AI playlist, which uses machine learning to replicate a specific Attacker playstyle, allows players to practice their defense in preparation for matches.

Finally, Season 4 updates include remastering a beloved American Operator and a cross-play update to access matchmaking with PC for Console players. Additionally, Season 4 plans to support anti-cheat efforts by implementing a system that will automatically kick cheaters and minimize the negative impact cheaters have on matches.

There’s no word yet o when Season 1 will launch, but once we know, we’ll let our readers know.