Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege is the tactical team shooter that made planning, intel and destruction as important as aim. Developed by Ubisoft Montreal and first released in December 2015, it pits two teams of five against each other in tight, high-stakes rounds where one careless peek can end your round and one clever breach can win it. Since the Siege X update in June 2025 the game has been free to play, so anyone can join Team Rainbow and find out why Siege has held such a dedicated following for more than a decade.

Five Versus Five, Attack Versus Defense

Every match alternates between attacking and defending an objective, and each side asks for a completely different mindset. Success comes from reading the map, choosing the right operator for the situation and communicating with your team, not from sprinting into the nearest doorway.

On Defense Defenders get a short preparation phase to turn the objective room into a stronghold. Reinforce walls and hatches, barricade doors and windows, place traps along likely entry points and set up surveillance to watch the approach, then adapt as the attackers reveal their plan. On Attack Attackers open each round with observation drones, scouting for the objective and the defenders guarding it. From there the team coordinates a breach: blowing through reinforced walls, rappelling down to a window, or opening the floor above to strike from where nobody is looking. Operators and Gadgets Every operator brings a signature gadget that shapes the round. Thermite's Exothermic Charge burns through reinforced walls, Mute's Signal Disruptors jam drones and breaching charges, and Jäger's Active Defense System knocks grenades out of the air. Learning those counters is the heart of the game.

Destruction Is a Tool, Not a Spectacle

Siege treats the building itself as part of your loadout. Soft walls splinter under gunfire and shotgun blasts, breaching charges open new lines of sight, and floors and ceilings can be broken to create vertical angles that catch defenders off guard. A small hole shot through the right wall can lock down a hallway, while a well-placed breach can make an entire defensive setup obsolete. Knowing what has been reinforced, what can still be opened and where the next shot might come from is a skill that keeps sharpening hundreds of hours in.

How the Free Game Works

A selection of operators is available from the start, and a clearance level path eases new players into the fundamentals step by step, building the skills and confidence needed before tougher matches. Three modes are open to every player:

• Quick Match - the lower-stakes playlist and the natural place to try new operators, learn map layouts and practice your drone work before the pressure rises, without anything riding on the result.
• Unranked - the full competitive ruleset, including operator bans, with no rank on the line. It is the best preparation for serious team play and the closest look at how Siege is played at a high level.
• Dual Front - the Siege X mode in which two teams of six attack and defend at the same time, with respawns keeping the pressure on while still rewarding coordinated pushes and smart use of gadgets.

Ranked playlists, the Siege Cup, additional operators and cosmetics require payment to unlock.

Seasons, Progression and the Pro Scene

Every season brings major updates with new content and features, so the meta keeps moving and familiar strategies are constantly being tested. Around the casual and competitive playlists sits a community of more than 80 million players, along with a professional scene whose biggest stage, the Six Invitational, shows the kind of coordination that makes Siege as compelling to watch as it is to play.

Pull together a squad, pick your first operator and send that drone under the door. Every wall you learn to read brings you one round closer to the clutch you will be talking about for weeks.