The Six Invitational was this weekend and fans got to see what’s ahead for Rainbow Six Siege in its fourth year. As typical with new seasons, new operators were introduced and a new map came to the game. The developers also revealed what their plans are for its fourth year, and what they are doing to change the game.
Year 4 is described as a year of transformation. The biggest transformation that is happening to Siege is how the development team has changed. There are now going to be dedicated teams or cells that handle each different aspect of the game. There is an event cell, an operator cell, a cell that will be handling player behavior and toxicity, and a playlist cell.
Seasons will still function as they do now with each season bringing in two new operators and new maps. The two new operators that have been introduced are Gridlock and Mozzie. Gridlock is an attacker equipped with Trax Stingers which are throwable spike clusters that slow and damage enemies. Mozzie is a defender who has pest devices. They can hack and take over enemy drones. After they attach, they are fully under the control of the defending team.
There will be a map cell that is focused on making sure the maps are balanced. Instead of new maps each season, another change that is being made is that there are now going to be reworked maps alongside one new map. The developers are planning to give their maps a new lifecycle by making improvements and giving them a new dynamic.
The operator team will be dedicated to tweaking the operators and the game. The dev team announced that they will be adjusting Lion, Glaz, Ying, Dokkaebi, and Capito. They also say that more will be coming.
The biggest feature that will be coming to the game is the reverse friendly-fire which tackles team-killing. Essentially, if you hit your teammate, you will lose health. If you continue, you will eventually die and be out of the match.
A new playlist will be coming to the game. The Newcomer playlist is for new players who want to learn the ins and outs of Siege in a safe, controlled environment. There will be 3 maps to choose from, and the only game mode available is the bomb game mode.
Other changes coming to Siege include the reduction of the action timer. The timer is set at 3 minutes and 30 seconds instead of 4 minutes. Attackers will also be able to choose their spawn points freely and defenders will learn where they will be defending so they can choose an appropriate operator. These options are available in the casual playlist. The ranked playlist is also changing in that Pick and Ban will be in the main game mode starting season two.