As Rainbow Six Siege progresses through its seventh year, Ubisoft has taken the opportunity to explore the next step on the roadmap. At the heart of this mid-season update were details regarding the next step on the journey – Y7S4. Despite being seven years old, Rainbow Six Siege remains one of the most popular esports titles, and it’s constantly being worked on by Ubisoft. When season four drops, it’ll bring with it a string of updates that players have been waiting for for a relatively long time.

For some, Rainbow Six Siege is the pinnacle of multiplayer FPS action, boasting a constantly evolving environment that has, so far, succeeded in remaining ‘alive’ while other games have come and gone. It was developed with esports in mind, and in the last few years, it has become increasingly popular as a competitive title. With Y7S4, the platform will be expanded and refined, with Ubisoft introducing several features designed to improve the overall experience for the player.

Let’s find out what Ubisoft has included in the mid-season roadmap update.

Rainbow Six Crossplay, Ranked 2.0, and a New Map

Image Credit: Ubisoft

At the top of the update was the mention of Ranked 2.0, penned as a major feature coming in Y7S4. Reportedly, the existing Rainbow Six ranked platform has been ‘fine-tuned’, with Ubisoft addressing how ranks are attributed, among other things. As one of the most advanced competitive platforms in modern gaming, Rainbow Six also boasts a relatively well-accepted ranked mode – but improvements are always welcomed.

In the interest of transparency, an all-new feature is coming to Rainbow Six Siege that will allow players to access their ‘reputation standing’. In Y7S4, this will be introduced as a beta product, with the aim of onboarding players into the process that will eventually give them the opportunity to ‘adapt and modify their interactions accordingly’. Unfortunately, Rainbow Six Siege has long had an issue with toxic players, but as a community-first developer, Ubisoft is determined to change that fact over time.

As a part of the mid-season update imagery, Ubisoft reiterated the upcoming inclusion of cross-play in Rainbow Six Siege, but this wasn’t expanded on in the update itself. At the moment, it’s believed that cross-play and cross-progression in Rainbow Six Siege will be across Xbox and PlayStation platforms only, but no more is known about it at this time.

And of course, as is the norm with these updates, an entirely new map will be thrown into the mix in Y7S4, along with a new Operator.

Rainbow Six Siege Continues to Live On

There’s plenty of life left in the Rainbow Six Siege ecosystem, from the esports tournaments to the updates flooding the platform. This month, the Six Jonkoping Major will be held, bringing together the world’s best R6S teams to a grand stage in Sweden. Following that, in February, the 2023 iteration of the Six Invitational will likely be held, which stands firm as one of the most valuable, most popular esports tournaments in the business.

Ultimately, according to Ubisoft, the goal is to push to a ten-year lifecycle for Rainbow Six Siege. That means we’ve got another three years left in the tank where Siege is concerned, and in that time, countless new features will be introduced to the platform.

Will it stand the test of time while so many of its competitors continue to release new iterations? Check out our thought piece to determine if Rainbow Six is dying.