Rainbow Six Siege Velvet Shell Update, Patch 2.1.0 Out Now

The first big update for Year 2 of Rainbow Six Siege has arrived, bringing new content and a wealth of changes to the shooter.

In terms of content, the major additions are a map called Coastline and a pair of new Operators. These consist of the usual split, with one Attacker and one Defender. The Attacker is Jackal, who can use a head-mounted device to see enemy footprints on the ground. The Defender is Mira, who can install a one-way, bulletproof window in walls--even reinforced ones. This lets the defending team see enemies coming without revealing their own position; the window can later be removed to allow the gap to be shot through.

The map is free to all players, while only Year 2 season pass owners get the Operators today. Everyone else will be able to purchase them next week using either in-game currency or real-world money.

Velvet Shell also introduces a variety of new cosmetics, such as weapon skins and Elite sets. The main menu has been overhauled as well to make things everything more easily accessible.

On the balance side, a number of bug fixes have been implemented, while weapon sights will be positioned identically regardless of the gun you're using.

You can read more about everything included in the full patch notes.

This update kicks off the first season of Year 2. At least three more updates like this will be rolled out in the coming year, introducing a total of eight new characters and four maps, counting those included in Velvet Shell. New game modes are probably not in the cards, though.