Some Rainbow Six Siege Operators Are Going Free Soon, Following Pricing Controversy

Rainbow Six Siege will soon be giving a number of its Operators away for free, Ubisoft has announced. Starting with the new season of DLC on March 3, all versions of the game except for the Starter Edition will include all 20 base Operators for no extra charge. In addition, all past and future weapon attachments will now be unlocked from the get-go, and the game's Starter Edition will now include six Operators rather than four, as was the case before.

Currently, players wanting to unlock more Operators are required to either spend in-game experience points, called Renown, or pay real-world money to purchase various season passes. Going forward, all 20 Operators included with the game at launch will be automatically unlocked, along with all weapon attachments. The move comes just weeks after Ubisoft announced it would be discontinuing Siege's Standard Edition in favor of a more expensive Advanced Edition, before reversing that decision based on fan feedback. The company says these new changes will ensure new players get more options from the beginning and a better experience when playing online.

Additionally, Ubisoft has unveiled more of its plans for Year 3. It's introducing a new PvP mode called Pick & Ban that allows each team to prevent their opponents from choosing two Operators of their choice for the entire match. The catch is your team is also banned from choosing those two Operators for the match, as well as the two your opponents choose to ban. Pick & Ban will be introduced as an option in Custom Games only at first, with the potential for a rollout in public matchmaking further down the line if things go smoothly.

Later in Year 3, a number of maps will be receiving updates, some of which are minor and some major. The smaller of these, called buffs, will change maps in subtle ways such as adding a room between Bedroom and Cash Room on Clubhouse. The first map to receive a larger rework will be Hereford, in Year 3 Season 3. It will keep the British theme but the map's layout will be completely changed and aesthetic very different to that of the current Hereford base.

Finally, Ubisoft has reaffirmed its aim to eventually reach 100 Rainbow Six Siege Operators. For more on the shooter, check out our look at how its new Operators will change the Siege meta and read more about the new Outbreak co-op mode.