Rainbow Six Quarantine's suspected new name is just a "placeholder"

Rainbow Six Quarantine is reportedly being renamed, but it won't be called Rainbow Six Parasite.

As spotted by MP1st, a file for Rainbow Six Quarantine was recently uploaded to the PlayStation network. The 14GB patch, billed as update 1.01, is described as the game's "initial launch patch," suggesting that the game might not be far from release. A little more digging uncovered images of the game's dash icon and boot screen, featuring Rainbow Six character Ela covered in some kind of black webbing. Attached to those pictures were the words "Rainbow Six Parasite," prompting speculation that this was the game's new name, after Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said the developer was considering a change in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

While a name change might be on the cards, however, the title won't be called Parasite. In a statement to PCGamesN, Ubisoft said that "'Parasite is only a placeholder that our internal teams use. Recently, we ran an internal test for the game and some of its details became public. We can confirm that this is a glimpse of the upcoming game, and we will share more details, including the official name, soon."

Originally scheduled for release in 2020, the sci-fi Rainbow Six game was delayed to the first half of 2021. That would put the launch window any time in the next four months or so, but the arrival of that "initial launch patch" and Ubisoft's suggestion that more news is on the way could mean that the game is closer than we think. 

For a closer look at what else is coming out this year, check out our list of new games 2021.