Everything coming in Rainbow Six Year 6: new Operators & map reworks

Rainbow Six Year 6 is now here with Operation Crimson Heist. However, Ubisoft has revealed more details about what to expect across 2021 as a whole, including all the new operators, map reworks, and even some interesting gameplay features.

Rainbow Six is celebrating a big anniversary in 2021 ⁠— Year 6. Ubisoft are putting on a show with Operation Crimson Heist to kick things off, including the explosive entrance of attacker Flores and a rework of Border.

However, their plans for Year 6 are bigger than just that. Another three new Operators, a handful of map reworks, and some major gameplay updates have all been teased. Here’s what we know about Rainbow Six Year 6, and what you can expect.

Four new Operators, one per season

With Flores dropping in Operation Crimson Heist, Team Rainbow has already recruited one new addition in Year 6. However, another three will be on their way across 2021.

The next three Operators will hail from Croatia, Ireland, and the Nakoda tribe from western Canada. The presentation didn’t reveal any information about their potential gadgets, or even whether they’ll be attackers or defenders.

• Read More: Flores revealed as new Rainbow Six Operator in Crimson Heist

However, it did reinforce that Ubisoft will not be returning to the two Operator per season model, which they ran up until Y5S3 in Operation Shadow Legacy with Zero’s release.

Four map reworks: Border, Favela, Outback, more

In Rainbow Six Year 6, there’s no new maps planned. However, there are a handful of map reworks to breathe life into older ones.

Border is getting a rework first off in Operation Crimson Heist, while Favela and Outback were singled out for changes down the line. However, Y6S3 is going to be slightly different, with Ubisoft promising multiple small reworks. What this means remains to be seen.

Operator reworks: Goyo, Melusi, Mozzie, more

After the successful Tachanka rework, some other Rainbow Six Operators could be returning to square one. Goyo, Melusi, Mozzie, and more are on Ubisoft’s rework list in Year 6, but the changes won’t be as drastic as Tachanka’s.

Goyo’s gadget will be replaced, removing the deployable shield and instead just having the Vulkan pack. Melusi’s Banshees will also be able to be destroyed by bullets when activated, and Mozzie’s pests will be easier to locate.

Mira, Maestro, Fuze, and Finka are also on Ubisoft’s list. However, they didn’t reveal any details at the Year 6 presentation.

No more year passes, only battle passes

Previously, Rainbow Six players could buy a Year Pass to get access to all the new content as it dropped across the year. However, that system is now being removed with Ubisoft going all-in on battle passes.

The Operator launches will be tied into Tier 1 of the Premium battle pass every season. By buying the premium track, you’ll get two weeks early access before the rest of the player base.

• Read More: Rainbow Six Operation Crimson Heist details

The price of battle passes will remain the same ⁠— 1200 R6 Credits ⁠— so if you used to buy both the year and battle passes, you’d be saving a bit of cash too.

Reputation system finally launching

The Reputation system, first teased in Year 5, is finally launching in Rainbow Six Year 6. Similar to the Honor system in League of Legends or Overwatch’s Endorsements, players will be rewarded for being good teammates, while punishing toxicity.

These punishments will include ranked bans, worse matchmaking, and more. While Ubisoft didn’t lock a date for Reputation, it’s safe to say it won’t be long.

Huge changes coming to TTS: attacker repick, droning after death

Finally, some huge gameplay changes are coming to Rainbow Six’s TTS across Year 6. The devs are using the test server for more experimental updates, and they’re not lying about that.

• Read More: What we know about Rainbow Six Quarantine

Current systems being tested include a new “attacker repick” during droning phase to rebalance the game to be more fair towards the attacker side, as well as the ability to drone and interact with gadgets after death to increase the game’s skill floor.

Rainbow Six Year 6 launches with Operation Crimson Heist. You can find full details, including more information on Flores and the Border map rework, right here.