Ubisoft has revealed the details for Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege X, as well as for participating in the limited time Closed Beta.
Just to get it out of the way, you don’t need to own Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege already to be able to play the beta. But Ubisoft still made it pretty difficult to join, since you will have to follow Twitch livestreams from partner content creators to earn a Closed Beta Twitch drop. That means you also have to have a Twitch account, since you need to link your Twitch and Ubisoft accounts to qualify.
The beta started at the end of yesterday’s Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege X showcase, at March 13th 12pm PT / 3pm ET/ 8pm CET, and it will be ongoing until March 19th 12pm PT / 3pm ET/ 8pm CET. So you have a chance to join in all the way through the next week, but obviously this weekend will be particularly competitive for slots, and you may have already missed your chance to join in during that period.
PC users have it easiest, as the beta will be automatically added to their Ubisoft Connect library. For console players, they will be sent keys they have to redeem on the PlayStation or Xbox Store to add the beta to their library, and then be allowed to download it.
And now to get to the pièce de résistance. Siege X is introducing Dual Front, a 6v6 mode where both teams have to protect three map points on their side, while attacking the three points of the opposing team. Team can choose from 35 operators, both attackers and defenders. Dual Front’s maps are being designed around the mode, and will enable the enhancement Siege X is bringing to the entire game.
The big change is destructibility, unlike the kind found in Criterion Games’ Black or Red Faction, however, there’s a big focus on tactics. You can hit red gas pipes to start fires. On the flip side, you can use fire extinguishers to create an adhoc fog of war, but you can also use the explosion it can cause vs. any nearby operators. Metal detectors can be destroyed so they don’t give away your position, but you can also choose to temporarily disable them with EMPs as a tactic.
Ubisoft has also added improvements to rappelling, audio, tutorials, and several other odds and ends. But the developers also promise a huge commitment on improving their player safety and protection, vs. both cheating and toxic players. To sum, it’s a lot of what the players said they wanted, and some things that we’ll find out if they’ll like too. This weekend seems set to be a big one for Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege.
