Rainbow Six Siege will soon kick off its third year of content, with its next expansion "Operation Chimera." Following two years of steady growth, Ubisoft's shooter sits among today's most popular competitive games, however, is set to shake things up with its next content drop. Through "Mission Outbreak," a new cooperative game mode, its tactical gameplay shifts to a fantasy setting.
Following a post to the official Rainbow Six blog, further details have been shared around Mission Outbreak. While the general premise of the event, a cooperative player-versus-environment (PvE) zombie mode, was previously known, we now have clearer information surrounding specifics and availability. This was also paired with a new cinematic trailer, setting the tone ahead of release.
Mission Outbreak will available to the public on March 6 and run for four weeks, before concluding on April 3. This will follow an early access PC release for those on the Technical Test Server (TTS), starting on February 20. The mode will be available to all owners of Rainbow Six Siege as a free update.
Players will have the opportunity to play Outbreak across three maps, built specifically for the game mode. These maps will larger and more open than existing player-versus-player (PvP) maps, but take advantage of the destruction and flexibility Rainbow Six Siege is known for. In this mode, players will fortify a location and defend it from waves of monsters, each which fall into five archetypes. Outbreak will also be playable across two difficulty modes – "Normal" and "Pandemic."
Ubisoft will be limiting Outbreak to 11 Operators, to ensure the best balance of abilities that fit the mode. Among these is a new attacking Operator debuting this season, alongside Ying, Buck, Ash, and Glaz. The new defending Operator will also be playable in Outbreak, as well as Smoke, Kapkan, Doc, Tachanka, and the default Recruit.
For a deeper dive into Outbreak content, make sure to check out the full post on the Rainbow Six website. For more information on Operation Chimera, make sure to check out our article on all the details known so far. A full reveal for the expansion is currently on track for the "Six Invitational 2018" in Montreal, between February 13 and February 18.