Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, often shortened to Rainbow Six or R6, is a tactical shooter video game series by Red Storm Entertainment and Ubisoft, marketed under the Tom Clancy's banner of military-themed video games. Based on the novel Rainbow Six by American author Tom Clancy, it revolves around a fictional international counterterrorist organization called "Rainbow". Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six started in 1998 and as of 2024 consists of 13 entries with 6 expansion pack from early installments.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six is one of the most popular and most influential tactical shooter series, and early installments in the series helped propel the tactical shooter genre into the mainstream. Since the mid-2010s, a significant esports scene has formed around newer Rainbow Six games. As of 2016, over 32 million units have been sold.
Setting Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six follows a secret international counterterrorist organization called "Rainbow" (or "Team Rainbow"; capitalization varies between "Rainbow" and "RAINBOW"). The series is set in the canon Tom Clancy's universe, which is mostly shared with Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon.
The setting is in 1999 by the world's military, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies to combat the post-Cold War global rise in terrorism, Rainbow is a rapid reaction force consisting of "operators" from nations and organizations worldwide, ranging from special operations personnel and police tactical unit members to intelligence officers and field experts, trained and equipped to be capable of counterterrorist professionals in the world, able to resolve any terrorist attack, hostage-taking, bombing, or raid that local authorities cannot handle in an effective, reliable, or timely manner. Rainbow is headquartered at Stirling Lines in Hereford, England, but has global jurisdiction and can base themselves at any intelligence agency's headquarters (such as the Pentagon) should their continued presence in a region be necessary.
Due to the sensitive nature of their operations, such as being deployed in multinational incidents or against threats possessing weapons of mass destruction, and to simply prevent terrorists from knowing of their existence, Rainbow operates in absolute secrecy with complete plausible deniability, with only the most top-ranking government, military, and intelligence officials knowing they even exist. Cover-ups are often conducted after Rainbow's deployments to disguise operators as local police or military units, omit details that could alarm the public, or prevent the reporting of certain deployments.
The leader of Rainbow is designated "Rainbow Six" (or just "Six"), a designation created between the unit name and callsign (Rainbow) and Six, a radio call sign system used by the American military. The first Six was former U.S. Navy SEAL and CIA operations officer John Clark, who led the organization from its founding until his retirement. Since then, numerous individuals have taken the role of Six, the most recent being Harry Pandey.
Though the Rainbow Six universe is generally grounded in reality and maintains its basic premise, newer installments and plot events partially depart from the series' established setting or Rainbow's traditional policies, with Rainbow hosting a publicly visible tactical competition, recruiting non-government or independent operators such as private military company "Nighthaven", and being deployed to defeat invading extraterrestrials.
Within the wider Rainbow Six series, Rainbow Six Siege is the entry that most clearly shows the departures from the original setting. Instead of one squad planning a single mission, it centers on a large and growing roster of "operators," Rainbow members drawn from many countries and units. This fits the series' newer storyline, in which Rainbow runs a publicly visible tactical competition, recruits outside contractors such as Nighthaven, and is led by Harry Pandey as the latest "Six." Because Siege treats its operators as recurring characters, the roster and the lore around it expand every season.
Siege is updated through seasons, which Ubisoft describes as major updates meant to improve the player experience. Each year is expected to contain four seasons. Year 11 began with Operation Silent Hunt on March 3, 2026, which was revealed during the Six Invitational. It added Solid Snake, a stealth-focused attacker, along with a new weapon called the TACIT .45. The second season launched in June 2026. According to the Year 11 roadmap, it was to bring a major rework of Dokkaebi and a new casino-themed map called Calypso Casino. It also introduced the Ranked 3.0 matchmaking system, which Season 3 builds on.
The newest season is Year 11 Season 3, called Operation Split Fire, which launched on September 1, 2026. It adds Noor, an Egyptian defender, and makes changes to Kali, Dokkaebi, Lion, Echo, and Kapkan. Ubisoft described Noor as an operator meant to break the shield meta wide open. That aim shows how much of Siege's design is about rebalancing as players find strong strategies, and how often one operator is added to counter another's tactics.
Season 3 also adds new modes and ranked changes. The limited-time Wasteland Circuit drone racing mode runs from September 8 to September 22. Ranked 3.0 gains a new top tier called the legend division for the most skilled players. Season 3 also continues Ubisoft's practice of updating older maps. The developers call these "targeted map updates," meaning small gameplay changes that keep a map fresh without changing its core identity, and the first one is on Villa.
Siege is also known for its competitive scene, and Ubisoft ties its content schedule to esports events. The Year 11 roadmap was unveiled at the Six Invitational 2026 in Paris, France, which ran from February 2 to February 15. Season 3 was revealed on stage during the Esports World Cup grand final. Year 11 is expected to end in December with a fourth season. The roadmap says it will bring a new weapon and a new social hub. Ten years after its release, Siege keeps its audience through frequent updates and a tournament calendar that gives players and viewers a reason to keep following the game.
References
"Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six." Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Clancy's_Rainbow_Six Ubisoft. "Seasons Updates." Rainbow Six Siege. https://www.ubisoft.com/en-gb/game/rainbow-six/siege/news-updates/seasons Siege.GG. "Rainbow Six Siege X Year 11 Roadmap to be unveiled on February 15." https://siege.gg/news/rainbow-six-siege-x-year-11-roadmap-to-be-unveiled-on-february-15 Dexerto. "Rainbow Six Siege: New season dates & details (2026)." https://www.dexerto.com/wikis/rainbow-six/siege-new-season-dates/ Destructoid. "Complete Rainbow Six Siege Year 11 Roadmap: New Operators, Modes and More." https://www.destructoid.com/complete-rainbow-six-siege-year-11-roadmap-new-operators-modes-and-more/ Esports.gg. "R6 Y11S3: Split Fire, Noor, Legend." https://esports.gg/guides/rainbow-six-siege/r6-y11s3-split-fire-noor-legends/ PCGamesN. "Rainbow Six Siege Y11S3: Operation Split Fire." https://www.pcgamesn.com/rainbow-six-siege/y11s3-operation-split-fire Insider Gaming. "When Will Rainbow Six Siege Year 11 Season 3 Be Revealed and Released?" https://insider-gaming.com/rainbow-six-year-11-season-3-release-date-reveal/
Video games The first game was developed by Red Storm Entertainment, while the novel was being written. Red Storm was acquired in 2000 by Ubisoft, which has continued to manage the series ever since.
List of games Games in bold indicate main installments. + Overview of released games Title PC versions Consoleversions Handheld console and mobile Comments Rainbow Six Windows (1998); Mac OS (1999) ; DC (2000) Rainbow Six: Eagle Watch Windows (1999) ; DC (2000) Expansion pack Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear Windows (1999); macOS (2001) ; PS1 (2001) Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear – Urban Operations Windows (2000) Expansion pack Rainbow Six: Covert Ops Essentials Windows (2000) Expansion pack (stand-alone) Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear – Black Thorn Windows (2001) Expansion pack (stand-alone) Rainbow Six: Take-Down – Missions in Korea Windows (2001) Not released outside of South Korea (stand-alone) Rainbow Six: Lone Wolf PlayStation-exclusive game Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield Windows, macOS (2003) ; PS2, GameCube (2004) Rainbow Six 3: Athena Sword Windows, macOS (2004) Expansion pack Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow Rainbow Six 3: Iron Wrath Windows (2005) Expansion pack (DLC) Rainbow Six: Broken Wings Mobile phone (2003) Rainbow Six: Urban Crisis Mobile phone (2003) Rainbow Six: Lockdown Windows (2006) Mobile phone (2005) Rainbow Six: Critical Hour Rainbow Six: Vegas Windows (2006) ; PS3 (2007) Mobile phone (2006); PSP (2007) Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 Windows (2008) Rainbow Six: Shadow Vanguard Based on the original game Rainbow Six Siege Windows (2015) ; PS5, Xbox Series X/S (2020) Online-only reboot Rainbow Six Extraction Windows (2022) Spin-off based on the limited time mode “Outbreak” from Rainbow Six Siege Rainbow Six: SMOL iOS, Android (2024) Requires a Netflix account. No longer available. Rainbow Six Mobile Rainbow Six Tactics Windows (2027) PS5, Xbox Series X/S (2027) Turn based tactical game, spin-off of Rainbow Six Siege
Notes
References
External links Ubisoft Website