Rainbow Six: Siege is getting crossplay and a new defensive operator called Thunderbird.
What is really nice for players who have invested time on multiple platforms or plan to play with players elsewhere is that this move into crossplay would also see cross-progression for one account. That means operators and experience you've earned should be coming with you no matter who you are playing with.
However, it was noted that this rollout will not be entirely seamless. The first phase of the feature will come June 30, 2021 which will see PC and cloud-based platforms unified. That extends to Google Stadia and Amazon's streaming service, Luna.
For console players, the wait will be a decent amount longer and with a few caveats. The feature will launch for console players in Early 2022, meaning it is still a little ways off.
Also, if you were planning to hit up a friend on PC while on console, it doesn't look like you will be able to play together. The crossplay is only mentioned to be between Xbox and PlayStation players. It's not mentioned, but this might well be to make a fairer fight for console players who might struggle to keep up with the mouse and keyboard input of a PC.
The announcement was also underpinned by a new trailer showcasing the recently, announced new defending operator called Thunderbird. The trailer was beautifully animated, showing off the pilot as she also takes on a gnarly looking grizzly bear with nothing but a flare which is pretty dang cool.
Thunderbird will be joining the Rainbow Six Siege roster next week when its new North Star season starts. The season will be focused on the air-sea rescue services in Canada, perhaps one of the more grounded settings of late.
With crossplay on the way, and the game recently passing a stagging 200,000 concurrent players, Rainbow Six Siege is in a great place to hop in.
If E3 has you giddy with excitement about the future of games, check out our list of new games 2021.
