Rainbow Six Siege's new season, Operation Ember Rise, introduces a battle pass system

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Ubisoft has detailed what's coming up for Rainbow Six Siege's upcoming Year 4, Operation Ember Rise, including information about its all-new battle pass system.

Making the announcement at today's Six Major Raleigh event, Ubisoft introduced new Peruvian Attacker, Amaru, and new Mexican Defender, Goyo, and revealed a reworked Kanal map that the developer says will feature "improved navigation between all areas" thanks to two new staircases that make the map "more vertical".

The first battle pass event – which is expected to drop in Season 3 of Year 4 – was also detailed. "Mini Battle Pass" Call Me Harry will roll out first, for free, and will focus upon Dr. Harishva “Harry” Pandey, Director of Rainbow. Like similar systems in other games like Fortnite and Apex Legends, players will be able to unlock "unique rewards", culminating in a Harry Chibi charm upon completion.

As for the new operators? Former archaeologist Amaru is reportedly equipped with a G8A1 automatic rifle, a Supernova shotgun, and the ability to "access any high position in record time" with a Garra hook. She also boasts a Garra kick finisher which "instantly takes out an opponent standing behind the window, making her a perfect flanker".

Interestingly, Amaru helped raised the second new operator, Goyo, who is a former member of the Mexican Fuerzas Especiales and boasts the Volcán Shield ability. Much like the ordinary deployable shield the Volcán variant provides cover for Defenders, but Goyo can also attach an incendiary bomb to it, too.

Last but certainly not least, there's also been a number of QoL tweaks, too, including a reworked Operators menu and shop interface, as well as improved map rotations. The new season will also introduce a new Champions rank, plus an all-new unranked playlist that permits players to play according to the rules of Ranked play without it affecting their ranks/MMR.

Operation Ember Rise goes live on the PC Test Server tomorrow, August 19, 2019, allowing players to "test upcoming gameplay features that will make their way into the main game itself".

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Vikki Blake is GamesRadar+'s Weekend Reporter. Vikki works tirelessly to ensure that you have something to read on the days of the week beginning with 'S', and can also be found contributing to outlets including the BBC, Eurogamer, and GameIndustry.biz. Vikki also runs a weekly games column at NME, and can be frequently found talking about Destiny 2 and Silent Hill on Twitter.