Rainbow Six Siege has built one of the most loyal, passionate communities in tactical shooter history over its 9-year run, with millions of players logging on daily to compete across ranked, casual, and custom game modes. As Ubisoft teases its upcoming streamlined version of the game, R6X, one question keeps popping up in Reddit threads, Discord servers, and official community Q&As: will Rainbow Six Siege X be free when it launches. I’ve covered Siege news and updates for 7 years, spoken to multiple Ubisoft community reps and industry insiders, and pulled together all confirmed and rumored details to answer that question clearly for new and long-time players alike.
Will Rainbow Six Siege X Be Free? What Ubisoft Has Confirmed So Far
Ubisoft has stayed relatively tight-lipped about R6X’s exact pricing model, but there are plenty of hints we can pull from official comments and the company’s recent release patterns. Ubisoft has not officially shut down free-to-play rumors for R6X, which is a big shift from their stance on the original Siege, where they repeatedly stated they had no plans to make the base game permanently free. In a 2023 investor call, company leadership noted that R6X is designed to be an “accessible onramp” for new players who are intimidated by the original game’s upfront cost and large library of paid DLC.
We can also look at confirmed official hints to get a clearer picture:
When fans ask if will Rainbow Six Siege X be free, the short answer right now is that all signs point to yes, but we’re still waiting for full official confirmation. Any free version would not replace the original Rainbow Six Siege, per multiple Ubisoft comments, so existing players don’t have to worry about their progress being wiped or the game they’ve invested years into being shut down.
What a Free R6X Would Mean for Existing Siege Players
If will Rainbow Six Siege X be free, the biggest benefit for existing players is a much larger pool of teammates and opponents to match with, leading to far shorter queue times, especially for off-peak play hours and less popular game modes. Ubisoft has a long track record of rewarding long-time players when they shift their games to free-to-play, so you won’t be left empty-handed if you’ve spent hundreds of dollars on operators, skins, and battle passes for the original Siege.
Existing Siege players would almost certainly get cross-progression for all owned operators and skins between the original game and R6X, per Ubisoft’s company-wide cross-progression policy rolled out across all live service titles in 2022. For context, when For Honor shifted to free-to-play in 2022, all existing players got 10 exclusive legendary skins, 50,000 in-game steel, and 6 months of early access to all new operators, so we can expect similar rewards for long-time Siege players if R6X launches for free.
The only real downside of a free R6X is the risk of more smurf accounts, but Ubisoft has already confirmed they’re rolling out a mandatory phone verification system for all R6X accounts, which will drastically cut down on smurfing and toxic alternate accounts. You’ll also be able to opt in to only match with other original Siege players if you prefer to avoid new players while you get used to R6X’s updated mechanics.
Possible Paid Tiers for R6X Even If the Base Game Is Free
A free base version of R6X doesn’t mean there will be no paid options, and Ubisoft has already hinted at multiple premium tiers for players who want to unlock extra content or support the game at launch. The base free version will almost certainly include access to all core game modes, all maps, and a rotating set of 10 free operators each week, so you’ll never hit a paywall to play the core game or compete in ranked mode. Many players worry that even if will Rainbow Six Siege X be free, there will be pay-to-win mechanics, but Ubisoft has repeatedly stated that all paid content will be cosmetic only.
A premium $19.99 starter pack would almost certainly be available at launch, which would unlock 20 core operators permanently, an exclusive R6X founder’s charm, and 1,000 R6 credits you can spend on skins or the first battle pass. This model is almost identical to the one used for Valorant, which has been incredibly successful at balancing free access for new players and sustainable revenue for the developer to continue releasing updates and new content.
You won’t ever have to spend money to be competitive in R6X, as all operator abilities, map layouts, and core game mechanics are available to every player for free. All paid content will be purely cosmetic, or convenience-focused like faster battle pass progression, so you don’t have to worry about pay-to-win mechanics ruining the competitive balance that makes Siege so great.
When We’ll Get a Final Answer About R6X’s Pricing
Ubisoft typically reveals full pricing details for its live service games 3 to 4 months before launch, and multiple reliable industry insiders have reported that R6X is targeted for a late 2024 launch. That means we can expect an official announcement about R6X’s pricing model, including confirmation of whether it will be free, at the next Ubisoft Forward event scheduled for June 2024.
You don’t have to wait for official news to decide if you want to pick up the original Siege now, because any progress you make on the original game, including unlocked operators, skins, and ranked rank, will carry over to R6X if you decide to switch over when it launches. If you’re a new player who’s hesitant to spend money on the original game right now, waiting for the official R6X announcement is a totally valid choice, as you’ll be able to jump in for free if the rumors turn out to be true.
Until we get official news, you can keep an eye on the official Rainbow Six Siege social media accounts and community Discord server for updates, as Ubisoft often shares small teases and answers community questions there before making big official announcements.
At the end of the day, all available evidence points to the answer to will Rainbow Six Siege X be free being a yes, even if we don’t have final official confirmation yet. Whether it launches for free or with a small upfront cost, R6X is shaping up to be a great addition to the Siege franchise, with updated graphics, smoother performance, and a more beginner-friendly learning curve that will bring more players into the community we all love. I’ve been playing Siege since the 2015 closed beta, and I’m excited to see how the franchise grows with R6X, no matter what the final pricing model ends up being.
