What you need to know
- Ubisoft has unveiled Rainbow Six Siege's next seasonal update, Operation Steel Wave.
- Rainbow Six Siege game director, Leroy Athanassof, has confirmed the delay of upcoming Ping 2.0 and Match Replay features, amid challenges posed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Ubisoft has detailed its upcoming season headed to Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, with the unveiling of Operation Steel Wave, alongside its latest Operators, Ace and Melusi.
The next chapter of the multiplayer tactical shooter brings a variety of new content, targeting a likely June release window across PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. But with Ubisoft Montreal working from home, it appears two upcoming features have felt the impact of current world events.
Rainbow Six Siege game director, Leroy Athanassof, opened its Steel Wave reveal stream with an update on development timelines, stating two future core gameplay features have suffered delays. That includes the promised Match Replay system, allowing players to revisit past matches from various perspectives, and the new contextual "Ping 2.0" system.
Hands-on: Rainbow Six Siege Steel Wave brings pure glory and frustration
"Just like everybody else, we had to adapt to this strange situation we are all in. In those past weeks, we had to face a lot of human and technical challenges. Good news is, we overcame almost all of them, and we are going to deliver to you a new, kickass season," Athanassof stated.
"However, with this new reality, we had to make [a] tough decision. We were extremely excited to bring you the Match Replay and the new Ping system that we showed at [Six Invitational]. But we had to postpone the release of this feature to focus on securing our testing capacities for the season. Don't worry, we are still going to deliver those features for Year 5. We just needed to adapt our calendar."
Ubisoft never provided firm release dates on either feature, only committing to initial versions of both in the first half of 2020. However, Athanassof's statement indicates both could have originally shipped relatively soon — potentially alongside the release of Operation Steel Wave.
The dedicated Replay mode has been in development for some time, providing a tool to revisit past matches beyond your first-person perspective. Standard across various modern shooters, the tool aims to please content creators through competitive players.
The new Ping 2.0 feature provides a more immediate gameplay impact, allowing players to mark gadgets and provided more contextual pointers, similar to the much-praised system in Apex Legends.
It's unclear when either system will now release, but appears set for sometime in Year 5, spanning March 2020, through to early 2021.
Addictive, challenging shooter action
Ubisoft's hit shooter is hotter than ever, touting tense tactical gameplay, and regular free updates. Entering 2020 with millions of players, Rainbow Six isn't slowing down.
