Ubisoft Montreal’s Rainbow Six Siege came out in 2015 and, since that time, the community for the online tactical shooter has benefited from a steady influx of updates and new content. And the game’s development team intends it to keep going strong for several years to come, with a next-gen upgrade five years to the day after the game's release and even a rumored physical deluxe edition of Rainbow Six Siege for the PlayStation 5.
The next seasonal update for Rainbow Six Siege was teased on the game’s official Twitter page on February 16, and now it’s been officially announced. Operation Crimson Heist, which goes live on March 16, will introduce Operator Flores and his new gadget, among other things.
Kicking off Rainbow Six Siege’s sixth year, Flores is a new medium-speed, medium armor Attacker from Argentina who will arrive on scene with an AR33 assault rifle and SR-25 marksman rifle for primary weapons, the GSH-18 handgun as his secondary, and the choice of either a Claymore or set of Stun Grenades as his secondary gadget.
Flores’ primary gadget, the RCE-Ratero, releases up to four explosive radio-controlled drones that can blow up Rainbow Six Siege Defender obstacles and gadgets, environmental destructibles like walls, and even enemy players. The gadget can of course be stopped with a well-aimed shot or by using Mute’s jammers, Mozzie’s Pests, electrified barbed wire, or lasers. The RCE-Ratero can be steered but, once the drone’s explosive device is triggered, either manually or automatically after 10 seconds, it will anchor itself, become bulletproof, and explode after a short fuse countdown.
Flores won’t be the only operative joining the fray with an explosive ability; other Attackers will gain access to a new secondary weapon that’s being added to the game. Rainbow Six Siege's Gonne-6 will not be particularly useful for killing because it holds only one explosive round, and its purpose is to destroy Defenders’ bulletproof gadgets like Deployable Shields, Bulletproof Cameras, and Maestro’s Evil Eye. This new weapon is intended to restore a bit of balance in Rainbow Six Siege, which has begun to skew a bit in favor of Defenders.
In addition to Flores, his new explosive gadget, and the Gonne-6, the Rainbow Six Siege development team is continuing its effort to revamp and improve the game’s maps. The Border map has always been a bit difficult to defend due to its layout, and the rework introduces a number of changes, both large and small, to increase defensibility and mobility. A few of these changes include the addition of an exterior staircase to the Archives balcony, the removal of some of the map’s entry points, and the extension of the bathroom with a new destructible wall.
Rainbow Six Siege is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.