Xbox gets Rainbow Six 3 exclusive

Ubi Soft Entertainment has today announced that Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 is a console exclusive for the Xbox in 2003. The announcement doesn't rule out versions of the game for the PlayStation 2 or GameCube in future, but it does mean that Xbox owners will get to play the game significantly earlier than players with other consoles.

"We are excited about our new partnership with Microsoft," said Yves Guillemot, president and CEO of Ubi Soft Entertainment. "The same kind of exclusive agreement was a tremendous success for Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, which ended up being the top-selling Xbox game in 2002. With the Xbox's proven gaming potential and the recent addition of the Xbox Live service, we expect even greater things for Rainbow Six 3."

Rainbow Six 3 is currently in development at Ubi Soft's Montreal studio, in close collaboration with Red Storm Entertainment. New features for the Xbox version will include 14 single-player missions, nine multiplayer maps, and a voice recognition system so that players can verbally issue orders to their teammates in the single-player game.

"We're pleased that Ubi Soft has chosen Xbox as the lead development platform for Rainbow Six 3," said Michel Cassius, senior director for Xbox platform and marketing. "Using graphics technology that makes the most of what Xbox has to offer, plus Xbox Live support, means Rainbow Six 3 will be an amazing gaming experience. After the success of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, it's great to welcome another fantastic Tom Clancy title to the growing Xbox portfolio of exclusive triple-A titles."

For more information on Rainbow Six 3, which is scheduled for release toward the end of this year, check out our previous coverage of the game. You might also be interested to take a look at our full review of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield for the PC, which was released back in March.