Overview of Year 11

At the Six Invitational 2026, Rainbow Six Siege outlined a full year of updates aimed at both casual and competitive players. Year 11 includes a crossover with Metal Gear Solid, major competitive changes, and mechanical tests that will be tried in controlled playlists. The plan brings new and remastered content, balance updates across multiple patches, and a stronger stance against cheating. A revised Ranked 3.0 system is also part of the competitive overhaul, intended to improve how rank reflects player skill and to clarify progression.

Operation Silent Hunt Launch

Year 11 begins with Operation Silent Hunt on March 3. This season adds Solid Snake as a permanent attacker operator and introduces balance updates focused on entry tactics, roaming, and counterplay. The season also adds improved anti-cheat measures on PC, a new 1v1 arcade mode, and scheduled ranked map rotations to vary competitive play.

Solid Snake as a Playable Operator

Solid Snake joins the attacking roster with a design centered on stealth, scouting, and adapting to changing conditions during a round. He is voiced by David Hayter. His kit encourages players to gather information carefully, move with purpose, and make use of tools found mid-round rather than relying only on a fixed loadout.

Snake’s Gadget and Loadout

Snake’s unique tools and weapons are built to support careful entry and flexible problem-solving.

• Soliton Radar MKIII: A rechargeable device that gives a top-down snapshot of nearby areas. It can reveal cameras and enemies. If an enemy is precisely marked, that enemy receives an alert, so using the radar carries risk when pinpointing targets.
• On-Site Procurement (OSP): Snake starts with one secondary gadget of your choice (frag grenade, stun grenade, smoke grenade, impact EMP, or breach charge). During the round, he can scavenge up to five more gadgets from pouches dropped by eliminated operators. Pouches from team-kills or self-eliminations do not count.
• Weapons: Primary choices include the F2 (with new grip options) and the PMR90A2 designated marksman rifle. His secondary is the Tacit .45 pistol with an integrated suppressor.

This kit supports intel gathering, silent movement, and mid-round adaptation. The risk-reward nature of the radar and the reliance on found gadgets mean Snake rewards careful timing and map awareness.

Season 1 Balance and Gameplay Changes

Operation Silent Hunt includes targeted changes to improve pacing and give attackers more options while refining defender tools. Several operators and mechanics receive updates:

• Skopós: Now a 3-speed. Shell transitions are faster with a 0.5-second cooldown. Shells are stronger and faster, and they add soft-destruction capability to open up new lines of sight.
• Ela: Grzmot mines apply a longer concuss effect to disrupt pushes more reliably.
• Amaru: Gains an extra Garra Hook charge to expand entry routes and timing.
• Alibi: Prisma decoys now ping more often and for longer, helping teammates track movement.
• Observation Blocker: Deploys more quickly, making setup more efficient.
• Flores: Gains access to the T-95 LSW light machine gun for a steadier sustained-fire option.
• Shield users: Cannot bash full-health barricades anymore, with the exception of Blackbeard’s setup.

Additional features for the season include a 1v1 arcade mode for focused duels, the R6 ShieldGuard anti-cheat initiative on PC, ranked map rotations to keep the pool fresh, and four planned balance patches to adjust the meta as data comes in.

Ranked 3.0 and Competitive Focus

Year 11 includes a Ranked 3.0 system aimed at refreshing competitive play. While full details will roll out over the year, the intent is to make ranks better reflect performance, reduce confusion around progression, and align rewards and matchmaking with consistent measures of skill. These changes work alongside the new anti-cheat measures and the rotating ranked map list to create a fairer and more readable ladder.

Year 11 Roadmap

Ubisoft outlined content across all four seasons, connected by a storyline that references Bishop from Rainbow Six Vegas 2. Each season includes gameplay additions and system-level updates.

• Season 1 (Operation Silent Hunt): Solid Snake joins as a permanent attacker. The season brings operator balance updates, the 1v1 arcade mode, enhanced anti-cheat on PC, and scheduled ranked map rotations.
• Season 2: Dokkaebi receives a full remaster, shifting her into an intel-denial attacker role with a new weapon. A new map inspired by Las Vegas, the Calypso Casino, expands the competitive pool.
• Season 3: A new defender arrives with a tool designed to counter shield gameplay. The Operator Mastery progression system debuts, offering structured milestones tied to operator use and skill growth.
• Season 4: A Testing Grounds playlist rolls out for mechanical experiments such as reducing the number of reinforcements by half to study pacing and setup impact. Hostage mode is reworked to return in ranked. The Grand Larceny event comes back. Attackers gain access to a drone as a secondary gadget option. The final operator remaster of the year lands, along with a cross-operator weapon. Ubisoft also notes the game will shift to one operator per season starting in Year 12.

How These Changes Affect Play

The Season 1 balance pass supports more varied entry options, tighter roaming control, and clearer intel exchanges. Snake’s Soliton Radar MKIII encourages careful scouting but warns enemies on precise reveals, which should reduce free pushes. OSP makes resource collection during a round matter, rewarding players who plan routes around fallen operators. Buffs to Ela, Amaru, Alibi, and Flores shift how teams create pressure and react to counter-play, while the shield change reduces barricade-breaking rushes.

Across the year, the Operator Mastery system and periodic remasters aim to modernize older kits and guide players toward measurable skill goals. The Testing Grounds playlist provides a space to trial bigger mechanical shifts, like reinforcement changes, without committing them to ranked until they are proven. The anti-cheat updates on PC target unfair play, and ranked map rotations aim to keep strategies from going stale.

Taken together, Year 11 focuses on clarity, fairness, and variety. The crossover adds a known stealth specialist in a way that fits Siege’s information-driven style, while the competitive updates work to make matches more readable and consistent from one season to the next.