Rainbow Six Siege X Is Free-to-Play (With a Catch)

Rainbow Six Siege X has been officially announced and it will have a free version, but it comes with a big caveat. There are few shooters as big as Rainbow Six Siege, especially given its longevity. The game has been running for 10 years strong, seemingly only getting bigger with each passing year. Unlike a lot of its contemporaries, it has remained a premium title that also has plentiful in-game spending with cosmetics, battle passes, and so on. It’s a bit surprising to see it standing so strong when so many other games in the FPS genre have moved to free-to-play, but its a testament to the quality of the game and the loyalty of the player base.

Earlier this year, it was confirmed that a new version of Siege was on the way in the form of Rainbow Six Siege X. It’s not a sequel, but more of a revision of the game that already exists with new engine overhauls, quality of life changes, and so on. It’s the foundation for the next ten years of Siege and will very much keep the game alive for years to come. As of right now, we only have a general idea of what those ten years will encompass, but Ubisoft is clearly investing a lot into the future of this beloved shooter franchise.

Rainbow Six Siege X Free-to-Play Explained

With that said, with 20 years total planned for Rainbow Six Siege, Ubisoft is looking to shake up how players access the game. That means Rainbow Six Siege X will have a free-to-play version when it launches in Year 10, Season 2 (around summer time), but it’s not all-inclusive. Siege X‘s free version will only have 26 unlockable operators, roughly a third of the game’s full operator roster, and you will only have access to the casual modes such as quick play. Free-to-play users of Siege X will not be able to play the game’s competitive ranked modes, which is a unique structure.

There will still be a premium version of Rainbow Six Siege X. As of right now, we don’t know how much it will cost, but those who own the original Rainbow Six Siege will get access to the premium version of Siege X and carry over all of their progress/items at no extra cost. It will have everything you expect, including all of the operators and access to the ranked play. Part of the reason for this distinction is that Ubisoft wants to protect the competitive player pool from those who aren’t invested in Siege X and cheaters. Those who are banned from the game could easily make a new account and jump right in if it was free, but that’s far less likely to happen if there’s a paywall.

Either way, it’s likely those who have been waiting for Rainbow Six Siege to go free-to-play aren’t exactly itching to get into ranked play. It’s a great way to get introduced to the game without investing any money and hopefully, it will expand the player base even more.

Are you going to play Rainbow Six Siege X now that it’s free-to-play? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.