We would like to provide some insight into what we go through during the map creation process. The map we have chosen to highlight for this creative process is Kafe.
For all maps that we have created, and that we plan to create, the design intent is to have a clear, specific flavor and feel. The goal for Kafe was to provide you with a contrast between two strong, thematic, luxury restaurants, and a museum, but also a shift between the gameplay styles required for each section of the map.
As part of the conceptualization phases for Kafe, we wanted to experiment with developing vertical gameplay across multiple floors. This would encourage players to keep an eye on their surroundings, as well as use sound and audio cues to their advantage. Below you will find an early concept for the third floor of Kafe.



Beyond the verticality of the map, we also wanted to include a section that provided you with the close quarters combat that many of you have come to enjoy about Rainbow Six Siege. This continuity between our maps ties them all together. You can see in one of the 1st floor iterations below just how compartmentalized the map is, and how this encouraging close quarters combat.



In the following screenshot, you will find one of the early concepts for a spawn point on Kafe. Throughout the course of Siege, we have learned about new methods and techniques that help to alleviate the issues that result from some spawn points. One thing we learned post launch was how powerful windows were. Not only during the spawning phase, but throughout the entire round. The importance of runouts and methods for a defender to briefly enter the Attacker’s “territory” and land a few shots on them. We are using that knowledge to further improve the way we go about creating new spawn points moving forward. As an example, this is something that we embraced almost immediately, and went into our creation of Border. We designed the map with runouts, balconies, and rotation areas that allow the Defenders to relocate both inside and outside of the building.

Throughout the development of Kafe, we had many iterations, but the overall concept and intent for the map stayed the same throughout development.
There were a couple of parts of the map that were cut for balancing reasons from the original concept to the live version you have played on. One of these being a roof spawn. This ended up bringing some design/balance issues. With a spawn on the roof, there was no risk while approaching the building, as you started on top of it. Additionally, it was a much shorter time to enter the building after the preparation phase ended, that there was little point in choosing any other spawn point. With these things in mind, we removed the roof spawn. The other part that was cut was an elevator shaft. Originally we were going to include an interior elevator shaft that could be used for rappelling on the inside of the map. This was also cut for balance reasons.
We hope you have enjoyed learning a bit about the thought and design processes of creating a map. We have also included a few screenshots of Kafe in its conceptual stages below. Please let us know what you think, or if you have any ideas for a future map on the subreddit, Twitter, forum, or Facebook!

We would like to provide some insight into what we go through during the map creation process. The map we have chosen to highlight for this creative process is Kafe.
For all maps that we have created, and that we plan to create, the design intent is to have a clear, specific flavor and feel. The goal for Kafe was to provide you with a contrast between two strong, thematic, luxury restaurants, and a museum, but also a shift between the gameplay styles required for each section of the map.
As part of the conceptualization phases for Kafe, we wanted to experiment with developing vertical gameplay across multiple floors. This would encourage players to keep an eye on their surroundings, as well as use sound and audio cues to their advantage. Below you will find an early concept for the third floor of Kafe.



Beyond the verticality of the map, we also wanted to include a section that provided you with the close quarters combat that many of you have come to enjoy about Rainbow Six Siege. This continuity between our maps ties them all together. You can see in one of the 1st floor iterations below just how compartmentalized the map is, and how this encouraging close quarters combat.



In the following screenshot, you will find one of the early concepts for a spawn point on Kafe. Throughout the course of Siege, we have learned about new methods and techniques that help to alleviate the issues that result from some spawn points. One thing we learned post launch was how powerful windows were. Not only during the spawning phase, but throughout the entire round. The importance of runouts and methods for a defender to briefly enter the Attacker’s “territory” and land a few shots on them. We are using that knowledge to further improve the way we go about creating new spawn points moving forward. As an example, this is something that we embraced almost immediately, and went into our creation of Border. We designed the map with runouts, balconies, and rotation areas that allow the Defenders to relocate both inside and outside of the building.

Throughout the development of Kafe, we had many iterations, but the overall concept and intent for the map stayed the same throughout development.
There were a couple of parts of the map that were cut for balancing reasons from the original concept to the live version you have played on. One of these being a roof spawn. This ended up bringing some design/balance issues. With a spawn on the roof, there was no risk while approaching the building, as you started on top of it. Additionally, it was a much shorter time to enter the building after the preparation phase ended, that there was little point in choosing any other spawn point. With these things in mind, we removed the roof spawn. The other part that was cut was an elevator shaft. Originally we were going to include an interior elevator shaft that could be used for rappelling on the inside of the map. This was also cut for balance reasons.
We hope you have enjoyed learning a bit about the thought and design processes of creating a map. We have also included a few screenshots of Kafe in its conceptual stages below. Please let us know what you think, or if you have any ideas for a future map on the subreddit, Twitter, forum, or Facebook!

At the break of dawn, the city awakens in a haze of untold dreams and routines to follow. Cars flow through the grid, halting now and then at the mercy of traffic. Soft morning light reflects off the windows on modern buildings, all designed to expectation and made tall by collective ambition. Snowflakes flutter down on the bustling metropolis. It’s business as usual until day turns into night when the streets take on their second identity and neon colors emerge from stacked billboard ads. A helicopter surveys the area, free from the restraints of the grid, rising above office buildings of tech giants. It finds the highest helipad on the tallest tower. Somewhere inside the tower, a breaching charge detonates.

***

Descend on Mok Myeok, a staggering communications and observation tower in Seoul, South Korea. The tower brushes the clouds and overlooks the entire cityscape, a marvel of futuristic construction. Inside, traditional Korean architecture meets contemporary style: Tea rooms and lounges furnished in wood and homespun motifs, and bright and sleek modern offices. Art Director Gregory Fromenteau explained, “We are always looking to have contrast in the maps. Modern and old school, the duality of styles.”

Unfortunately, Mok Myeok is under attack, the sins of its corrupt CEO being laid bare. You must fight your way through the restaurant, nightclub, art gallery, and offices of the tower’s floors.

The first element the team wanted to take advantage of was the tower’s soaring height. “Our goal was to bring the fear of heights and a sensation of falling,” says Jacques Wong, one of the Level Designers. “The verticality and sense of being high-up is felt inside just as much as it is outside.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeI1k6Imcv0

When it came to designing and creating Mok Myeok Tower as the game’s newest map, the entire process proved to be a significant challenge to the Dev team. In contrast to previous maps where there were multiple paths leading to the main building, the Level Designers decided to take a different approach. “The new feature utilizes the Tower’s structure and allows players to rappel down and through the access points,” Wong explained. Should players be worried though about campers? “The map itself is pretty large and was designed specifically so that the majority of battles would take place in the center.” Combat starts out mostly at long-range, but once players draw closer to the center of the tower, it becomes a head-to-head shoot out.

Check our blog regularly for more updates on what’s coming up and catch the action at the Pro League finals in São Paulo on November 18-19 at twitch.tv/rainbow6.

For the latest updates, follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Join the discussion on our subreddit and Forums!

At the break of dawn, the city awakens in a haze of untold dreams and routines to follow. Cars flow through the grid, halting now and then at the mercy of traffic. Soft morning light reflects off the windows on modern buildings, all designed to expectation and made tall by collective ambition. Snowflakes flutter down on the bustling metropolis. It’s business as usual until day turns into night when the streets take on their second identity and neon colors emerge from stacked billboard ads. A helicopter surveys the area, free from the restraints of the grid, rising above office buildings of tech giants. It finds the highest helipad on the tallest tower. Somewhere inside the tower, a breaching charge detonates.

***

Descend on Mok Myeok, a staggering communications and observation tower in Seoul, South Korea. The tower brushes the clouds and overlooks the entire cityscape, a marvel of futuristic construction. Inside, traditional Korean architecture meets contemporary style: Tea rooms and lounges furnished in wood and homespun motifs, and bright and sleek modern offices. Art Director Gregory Fromenteau explained, “We are always looking to have contrast in the maps. Modern and old school, the duality of styles.”

Unfortunately, Mok Myeok is under attack, the sins of its corrupt CEO being laid bare. You must fight your way through the restaurant, nightclub, art gallery, and offices of the tower’s floors.

The first element the team wanted to take advantage of was the tower’s soaring height. “Our goal was to bring the fear of heights and a sensation of falling,” says Jacques Wong, one of the Level Designers. “The verticality and sense of being high-up is felt inside just as much as it is outside.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeI1k6Imcv0

When it came to designing and creating Mok Myeok Tower as the game’s newest map, the entire process proved to be a significant challenge to the Dev team. In contrast to previous maps where there were multiple paths leading to the main building, the Level Designers decided to take a different approach. “The new feature utilizes the Tower’s structure and allows players to rappel down and through the access points,” Wong explained. Should players be worried though about campers? “The map itself is pretty large and was designed specifically so that the majority of battles would take place in the center.” Combat starts out mostly at long-range, but once players draw closer to the center of the tower, it becomes a head-to-head shoot out.

Check our blog regularly for more updates on what’s coming up and catch the action at the Pro League finals in São Paulo on November 18-19 at twitch.tv/rainbow6.

For the latest updates, follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Join the discussion on our subreddit and Forums!

It has nearly been two full years, since Rainbow Six Siege launched on December 1st, 2015. We want to thank the millions of players who have helped support the game this long. As we enter our third year, there will be a lot to celebrate. We will have more news to share on the exciting things to come in Year 3, but for now, we want to share a big thank you from the entire Rainbow Six Development team.

Year Two kicked off into high gear with the first Six Invitational, the biggest event in Rainbow Six Siege’s history. Operation Velvet Shell dropped you into Ibiza where Jackal and Mira introduced Rainbow to the G.E.O. We then deployed Operation Health with the Technical Test Server and 1-Step Matchmaking, which has prepared the development team for the long-term future of Rainbow Six. Most recently, Operation Blood Orchid reopened an abandoned Hong Kong theme park with S.D.U. operators Ying and Lesion, along with Poland’s Ela from G.R.O.M.

And we’re not done.

Two new Operators from the 707th Special Mission Battalion (707th SMB) are joining Team Rainbow. The attacker is stubborn and daring while the defender is methodical and tenacious. We’re also bringing you a new GROM Operative in the mix, known for their resilience and bravery.

For our new map, you’ll have to look up, waaay up to explore a pristine observation tower high above Seoul’s skyline. Make room for more fire power in your storage locker as we’ve got new weapons to satisfy your craving for more choices in dealing out devastation.

We’re ending the year on a high note but there’s a lot more to come. Check our blog regularly for more updates on what’s coming up and catch the action at the Pro League finals in Sao Paulo, happening November 18th and 19th on twitch.tv/rainbow6.

For the latest updates, follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Join the discussion on our subreddit and Forums!

It has nearly been two full years, since Rainbow Six Siege launched on December 1st, 2015. We want to thank the millions of players who have helped support the game this long. As we enter our third year, there will be a lot to celebrate. We will have more news to share on the exciting things to come in Year 3, but for now, we want to share a big thank you from the entire Rainbow Six Development team.

Year Two kicked off into high gear with the first Six Invitational, the biggest event in Rainbow Six Siege’s history. Operation Velvet Shell dropped you into Ibiza where Jackal and Mira introduced Rainbow to the G.E.O. We then deployed Operation Health with the Technical Test Server and 1-Step Matchmaking, which has prepared the development team for the long-term future of Rainbow Six. Most recently, Operation Blood Orchid reopened an abandoned Hong Kong theme park with S.D.U. operators Ying and Lesion, along with Poland’s Ela from G.R.O.M.

And we’re not done.

Two new Operators from the 707th Special Mission Battalion (707th SMB) are joining Team Rainbow. The attacker is stubborn and daring while the defender is methodical and tenacious. We’re also bringing you a new GROM Operative in the mix, known for their resilience and bravery.

For our new map, you’ll have to look up, waaay up to explore a pristine observation tower high above Seoul’s skyline. Make room for more fire power in your storage locker as we’ve got new weapons to satisfy your craving for more choices in dealing out devastation.

We’re ending the year on a high note but there’s a lot more to come. Check our blog regularly for more updates on what’s coming up and catch the action at the Pro League finals in Sao Paulo, happening November 18th and 19th on twitch.tv/rainbow6.

For the latest updates, follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Join the discussion on our subreddit and Forums!

We are glad to announce major changes for our new Mid-Season Reinforcements, namely an upgrade to Kapkan’s Entry Denial Device, a new Elite set for Jäger, more weapon balancing, and bug fixes.





The trip laser will fade to the extent of disappearing after deployment. This comes at a cost, as the traps will no longer be instant kills, dealing a 60 HP damage. Thanks to his improved traps, Kapkan will also gain in speed. He will now be a 2-speed Operator, instead of 1-speed. This will allow Kapkan to have a bit more versatility as a Defender.

We feel as though this change is an adaptation of Kapkan to the skill level of players who have adapted to spotting the trip laser, instead of rushing through doorways. We hope to see new strategies develop for him, alongside our other trapper defenders.




One of Blitz’ biggest drawbacks is that he is extremely vulnerable without his shield protecting him. This is especially the case when sprinting. We found it difficult to close the gap between some Defenders and Blitz, who needs proximity to use his shield flash. To remedy this downside, he will now be able to sprint with his shield still protecting him. We’re putting the blitz into Blitz.




After analyzing in-game stats, we found that Ela’s win rate and pick rate were too high when compared to other Operators.

With 4 Grzmot Mines Ela was able to secure two bomb sites, and still save a mine for her roaming. We want our players to make careful decisions as to where to use her gadget, so she will only have 3 Grzmot Mines from now on.

We also feel that her Scorpion EVO 3 A1 SMG is too powerful overall. To address this, we have raised the speed at which you reach maximum recoil, while also increasing the impact of the maximum recoil. The result of this change will result in a SMG that will be more challenging to control.

Jäger steps out of the cockpit with the next instalment of the Elite Sets. The Flying Ace Elite set will see your enemy’s grenades falling from the sky in no time



Each set includes a matching Uniform and Headgear, Operator Card, Operator Title, Charm, and a Signature Victory Animation.





As noted in the Dev Blog that focused on high ping, we will be taking the following steps to improve the online experience for our players.

LATENCY ALIGNMENT
Latency alignment is a change that allows the server to mirror the reaction time of a shooter with an unstable connection more accurately.

PAWN-TO-PAWN PHYSICS
We have a new pawn-to-pawn physics system, which should address issues with players teleporting behind shield users. This issue was most commonly experienced while blocking a doorway with Montagne.

HIT VALIDATION IMPROVEMENTS
We are reducing the upper limit on the latency required to initiate extra hit validation steps.

REPLICATION IMPROVEMENTS
We are also optimizing the replication of actions. The result is a more responsive experience for all players and a reduction of latency.

PROCESSING DELAY + PING
Currently, the ping value displayed in the menus includes the processing delay. This is misleading, since running at a faster frame rate results in lower ping values being shown. We are removing this processing delay from the ping value.

CONNECTIVITY ICONS
We are implementing a series of adjustments that will help you monitor the status of your client, of the server, and of your network connection.



With this change, the game will display up to four icons in the upper right corner of your screen. These four icons denote the quality of your gameplay experience concerning your ping, connection stability, update rate and host stability, respectively from left to right.

MORE INFORMATION ON NETWORK IMPROVEMENTS
You can find a more detailed explanation for the aforementioned changes in this Dev Blog. It will also provide you with some insight into how Peeker’s Advantage works, and what we are doing to combat it.


LONE WOLF TERRORIST HUNT RENOWN
We have discussed the removal of Renown from Lone Wolf Terrorist Hunt in the past as part of an effort to deter players from hacking their Renown gained from Situations and Lone Wolf Terrorist Hunt. Fortunately, we were able to find a way around this while still allowing Renown gain in these game modes!
Renown in Situations and Lone Wolf Terrorist Hunt will be earned based on the amount of time you spend playing, as opposed to your total score at the end of the game. An unfortunate side effect of this change is that the Renown gain will not scale based on difficulty level, or wins/losses.

• Fixed – Shields can be placed in a doorway, and through a series of actions, used to clip into the walls. *These issues are Fixed on an individual basis, and we will continue to fix occurrences as they are found.
• Fixed – Players are able to see through smoke grenade clouds when they are far away.
• Fixed – When throwing a sticky gadget on a damaged barricade at a certain angle, removing the barricade will leave the gadget in place
• Fixed – If a defender removes a barricade while a claymore is on the other side of it and it ends in DBNO, the slow blood prompt is not available.
• Fixed – Minor animation glitch occur for all operators that vault & use right away their ADS
• Fixed – Players cannot open the scoreboard when being presented with the map and game mode at the beginning of a match, or in the round presentation screen just before the planning phase.
• Fixed – Shield animation is broken when spamming prone.
• Fixed – – User experiences collision issues while strafing along destructible walls.
• Fixed – Deploying Castle’s barricade and cancelling the animation will no longer cause other player’s FPS to drop.

• Fixed – Players are able to duplicate Tachanka's turret indefinitely.

• Fixed – Trophy system does not intercept grenades as intended.

• Fixed – Candela Charges will blind the Attacker continuously if they enter their drone camera while flashed.

• Fixed – No points are awarded for players that step on Gu mines while Lesion is dead.

• Fixed – Pellets can get attached to nothing, causing them to float.

• Fixed – Ash is able to destroy Bandit's shock wire on an electrified reinforced wall and receive points when she should not be able to destroy it with her Breaching Round.

• Fixed – ADS is misaligned after immediately switching from gadget.
• Fixed – A delay is present before aiming with her Electronics Detector deployed.

• Fixed – There is a clipping issue when crawling while using the Skeleton Key.

• Fixed – Explosives do not destroy Shock Wire when the reinforcement is placed on a trap door.
• Fixed – No points gained for destroying a Breaching Round with electrified wires.

• Fixed – The replication of Montagne shield can be broken.
• Fixed – Montagne can shoot through the extended shield.

• Fixed – Voice chat can be heard between different PVP games.

• Fixed – You can hear the sound of the biohazard container in the previous spawn selected.

• Fixed – Hostage clips through all walls and object when the attacker stops escorting him.
• Fixed – Players are able to displace the hostage using the deployable shield.

• Fixed – Participants in a custom game will remain in prep phase if the host pauses the timer after the time has ended.
• Fixed – Clients that JIP into a Custom Game in Tactical Realism mode will be spawned with the camera in the center of the map

• Fixed – Placing a deployable shield in the doorframe blocks the vaulting option in 1F House Lobby and 2F Terrace.
• Fixed – Gu is not activated if thrown at the intersection of two tiles at the bottom of the stairs in 1F House Lobby.
• Fixed – Drone can fall out of world from under the stairs of EXT East Garden.

• Fixed – Players can vault inside the boxes at 2F Cafe Corridor.
• Fixed – A pile of plaid clothing asset across the map acts as an indestructible steel object when struck with the Sledgehammer.

• Fixed – Players can see outside by destroying the walls of the cockpit.

• Fixed – It is possible to kill players above Kitchen through the indestructible floor using explosives.

• Fixed – Textures between reinforceable and indestructible walls allow bullets to pass through.
• Fixed – Defender can run out to a specific spot and remain undetected.

• Fixed – Rubberbanding when vaulting a shield in Basement Archives.
• Fixed – Players are able to stand on a window frame.
• Fixed – Vaulting over a Deployable Shield in the Archives Corridor hallway may result in the player falling out of world.
• Fixed – Hole between table legs on 2F Hallway is acting as a penetrable wall.
• Fixed – Valkyrie can place a camera inside a wall from 1F West Corridor from B Garage.
• Fixed – Textures between reinforceable and indestructible walls allow bullets to pass through.
• Fixed – After destroying the roof of the garage the player can throw a Black Eye camera into it and see through wall.
• Fixed – Wood buffer are too large next to reinforcements, allowing players to shoot through them.

• Fixed – Drone can clip and remain stuck in Planter Foliage above Main Entrance.

• Fixed – Behind the crates in 2F Armory, there is missing collision on the wall and a drone can fall out of the world.
• Fixed – Textures between reinforceable and indestructible walls allow bullets to pass through.

• Fixed – Players are able to force their character out of the floor's collision and kill opponents outside.

• Fixed – The players can place the defuser in Armory on top of boxes and out of reach for defenders.

• Fixed – Textures between reinforcible and indestructible walls allow bullets to pass through.

• Fixed – When interrupted, some weapon’s reload audio does not properly sync with the animation.
• Fixed – Bad animation when you go from running to walking stance.
• Fixed – Crouched Operators can sometimes have their foot clip into ground.
• Fixed – Montagne's reload animation is broken when viewed from 3rd person.
• Fixed – Inconsistency between the in game headgear and the picture for some of Valkyrie’s headgear.
• Fixed – Arm Protection's straps clip into Rook's uniform.
• Fixed – Knees of Blitz clipping through is Shield when Vaulting
• Fixed – IQ's hand and shoulder have a strange animation when deploying the Electronics Detector.
• Fixed – Rook's face clips through his headgear when being hit.
• Fixed – After Ela’s concussion effect disappears, there is a bad animation with the hands.
• Fixed – Blitz has missing shoulder straps on his default uniform.
• Fixed – Bundles reappear after unlocking them.
• Fixed – The item model will rotate without player input if the player enters a submenu or switches through the available content while rotating the model.
• Fixed – Rook’s Créneau headgear design on the shop image does not reflect the design of the actual headgear.
• Fixed – Valkyrie’s Pop Art headgear thumbnail has normal hair and grey glasses.
• Fixed – Visual artifact visible on the Alpha Pack.
• Fixed – 25 Pack Icon is distinct from the background.
• Fixed – Distinct stripe is sometimes visible on the Alpha Pack.
• Fixed – Sometimes there is a shadow in front of the card pulled from Alpha Packs.
• Fixed – Inconsistency between rarity of gridlock weapon skin.
• Fixed – While entering through a window from rappel while ADS and shooting, ADS animation is broken.
• Fixed – For Scorpion EVO 3 A1, the muzzle flash is too far ahead when a weapon is equipped with Compensator.
• Fixed – The rappel rope/line clips every time you end the action.
• Fixed – When moving while in ADS with any weapon with an ACOG sight, the weapon sight displays minor rubberbanding.
• Fixed – The weapon becomes invisible if quickly switching to and back from a gadget can be equipped and held.
• Fixed – Currency Pack price inconsistency in British Store.
• Fixed – Inconsistency with the Legendary skins missing rarity.
• Fixed – The rotation axis of the Operator’s shields in the charms full screen preview is incorrect when using higher levels of zoom.
• Fixed – Bandit’s Road Hog uniform does not have a rarity.
• Fixed – Gridlock Assault Rifle Bundle has two items without rarity until items are previewed in the shop.
• Fixed – Sledge’s Blood Orchid uniform camo pattern appears too dull and is not very visible.
• Fixed – Corrupted texture can be noticed on the Alembic skin thumbnail after equipping the skin.
• Fixed – The Valkyrie Chibi is invisible in game.
• Fixed – Frost’s Blood Orchid uniform appears too dull, not being very visible.
• Fixed – Blue Nebula Skin does not have a rarity.
• Fixed – The Oak Barrel charm clips into the weapon.
• Fixed – The text on the right side of Ela's headgear is mirrored.
• Fixed – There are more cans of the 30 days booster then the 90 days boosters.
• Fixed – Beatmatch charm is in low resolution.
• Fixed – A typo is present in Ela's description in Spanish localization.
• Fixed – There is no visual indicator for squad members when they are transmitting audio over voice chat.
• Fixed – All Weapon Skins, Charms, Attachments, Headgear and Uniforms are reset to default on every Operator after rebooting the game.
• Fixed – The Fragrant Harbor charm has black reflecting textures on the sails.
• Fixed – The Dancing Auntie charm has missing backface.
• Fixed – The Gold Chibi for Glaz has missing backface.
• Fixed – Images are not loading properly on the Player Profile section of the Rainbow Six website

We are glad to announce major changes for our new Mid-Season Reinforcements, namely an upgrade to Kapkan’s Entry Denial Device, a new Elite set for Jäger, more weapon balancing, and bug fixes.





The trip laser will fade to the extent of disappearing after deployment. This comes at a cost, as the traps will no longer be instant kills, dealing a 60 HP damage. Thanks to his improved traps, Kapkan will also gain in speed. He will now be a 2-speed Operator, instead of 1-speed. This will allow Kapkan to have a bit more versatility as a Defender.

We feel as though this change is an adaptation of Kapkan to the skill level of players who have adapted to spotting the trip laser, instead of rushing through doorways. We hope to see new strategies develop for him, alongside our other trapper defenders.




One of Blitz’ biggest drawbacks is that he is extremely vulnerable without his shield protecting him. This is especially the case when sprinting. We found it difficult to close the gap between some Defenders and Blitz, who needs proximity to use his shield flash. To remedy this downside, he will now be able to sprint with his shield still protecting him. We’re putting the blitz into Blitz.




After analyzing in-game stats, we found that Ela’s win rate and pick rate were too high when compared to other Operators.

With 4 Grzmot Mines Ela was able to secure two bomb sites, and still save a mine for her roaming. We want our players to make careful decisions as to where to use her gadget, so she will only have 3 Grzmot Mines from now on.

We also feel that her Scorpion EVO 3 A1 SMG is too powerful overall. To address this, we have raised the speed at which you reach maximum recoil, while also increasing the impact of the maximum recoil. The result of this change will result in a SMG that will be more challenging to control.

Jäger steps out of the cockpit with the next instalment of the Elite Sets. The Flying Ace Elite set will see your enemy’s grenades falling from the sky in no time



Each set includes a matching Uniform and Headgear, Operator Card, Operator Title, Charm, and a Signature Victory Animation.





As noted in the Dev Blog that focused on high ping, we will be taking the following steps to improve the online experience for our players.

LATENCY ALIGNMENT
Latency alignment is a change that allows the server to mirror the reaction time of a shooter with an unstable connection more accurately.

PAWN-TO-PAWN PHYSICS
We have a new pawn-to-pawn physics system, which should address issues with players teleporting behind shield users. This issue was most commonly experienced while blocking a doorway with Montagne.

HIT VALIDATION IMPROVEMENTS
We are reducing the upper limit on the latency required to initiate extra hit validation steps.

REPLICATION IMPROVEMENTS
We are also optimizing the replication of actions. The result is a more responsive experience for all players and a reduction of latency.

PROCESSING DELAY + PING
Currently, the ping value displayed in the menus includes the processing delay. This is misleading, since running at a faster frame rate results in lower ping values being shown. We are removing this processing delay from the ping value.

CONNECTIVITY ICONS
We are implementing a series of adjustments that will help you monitor the status of your client, of the server, and of your network connection.



With this change, the game will display up to four icons in the upper right corner of your screen. These four icons denote the quality of your gameplay experience concerning your ping, connection stability, update rate and host stability, respectively from left to right.

MORE INFORMATION ON NETWORK IMPROVEMENTS
You can find a more detailed explanation for the aforementioned changes in this Dev Blog. It will also provide you with some insight into how Peeker’s Advantage works, and what we are doing to combat it.


LONE WOLF TERRORIST HUNT RENOWN
We have discussed the removal of Renown from Lone Wolf Terrorist Hunt in the past as part of an effort to deter players from hacking their Renown gained from Situations and Lone Wolf Terrorist Hunt. Fortunately, we were able to find a way around this while still allowing Renown gain in these game modes!
Renown in Situations and Lone Wolf Terrorist Hunt will be earned based on the amount of time you spend playing, as opposed to your total score at the end of the game. An unfortunate side effect of this change is that the Renown gain will not scale based on difficulty level, or wins/losses.

• Fixed – Shields can be placed in a doorway, and through a series of actions, used to clip into the walls. *These issues are Fixed on an individual basis, and we will continue to fix occurrences as they are found.
• Fixed – Players are able to see through smoke grenade clouds when they are far away.
• Fixed – When throwing a sticky gadget on a damaged barricade at a certain angle, removing the barricade will leave the gadget in place
• Fixed – If a defender removes a barricade while a claymore is on the other side of it and it ends in DBNO, the slow blood prompt is not available.
• Fixed – Minor animation glitch occur for all operators that vault & use right away their ADS
• Fixed – Players cannot open the scoreboard when being presented with the map and game mode at the beginning of a match, or in the round presentation screen just before the planning phase.
• Fixed – Shield animation is broken when spamming prone.
• Fixed – – User experiences collision issues while strafing along destructible walls.
• Fixed – Deploying Castle’s barricade and cancelling the animation will no longer cause other player’s FPS to drop.

• Fixed – Players are able to duplicate Tachanka's turret indefinitely.

• Fixed – Trophy system does not intercept grenades as intended.

• Fixed – Candela Charges will blind the Attacker continuously if they enter their drone camera while flashed.

• Fixed – No points are awarded for players that step on Gu mines while Lesion is dead.

• Fixed – Pellets can get attached to nothing, causing them to float.

• Fixed – Ash is able to destroy Bandit's shock wire on an electrified reinforced wall and receive points when she should not be able to destroy it with her Breaching Round.

• Fixed – ADS is misaligned after immediately switching from gadget.
• Fixed – A delay is present before aiming with her Electronics Detector deployed.

• Fixed – There is a clipping issue when crawling while using the Skeleton Key.

• Fixed – Explosives do not destroy Shock Wire when the reinforcement is placed on a trap door.
• Fixed – No points gained for destroying a Breaching Round with electrified wires.

• Fixed – The replication of Montagne shield can be broken.
• Fixed – Montagne can shoot through the extended shield.

• Fixed – Voice chat can be heard between different PVP games.

• Fixed – You can hear the sound of the biohazard container in the previous spawn selected.

• Fixed – Hostage clips through all walls and object when the attacker stops escorting him.
• Fixed – Players are able to displace the hostage using the deployable shield.

• Fixed – Participants in a custom game will remain in prep phase if the host pauses the timer after the time has ended.
• Fixed – Clients that JIP into a Custom Game in Tactical Realism mode will be spawned with the camera in the center of the map

• Fixed – Placing a deployable shield in the doorframe blocks the vaulting option in 1F House Lobby and 2F Terrace.
• Fixed – Gu is not activated if thrown at the intersection of two tiles at the bottom of the stairs in 1F House Lobby.
• Fixed – Drone can fall out of world from under the stairs of EXT East Garden.

• Fixed – Players can vault inside the boxes at 2F Cafe Corridor.
• Fixed – A pile of plaid clothing asset across the map acts as an indestructible steel object when struck with the Sledgehammer.

• Fixed – Players can see outside by destroying the walls of the cockpit.

• Fixed – It is possible to kill players above Kitchen through the indestructible floor using explosives.

• Fixed – Textures between reinforceable and indestructible walls allow bullets to pass through.
• Fixed – Defender can run out to a specific spot and remain undetected.

• Fixed – Rubberbanding when vaulting a shield in Basement Archives.
• Fixed – Players are able to stand on a window frame.
• Fixed – Vaulting over a Deployable Shield in the Archives Corridor hallway may result in the player falling out of world.
• Fixed – Hole between table legs on 2F Hallway is acting as a penetrable wall.
• Fixed – Valkyrie can place a camera inside a wall from 1F West Corridor from B Garage.
• Fixed – Textures between reinforceable and indestructible walls allow bullets to pass through.
• Fixed – After destroying the roof of the garage the player can throw a Black Eye camera into it and see through wall.
• Fixed – Wood buffer are too large next to reinforcements, allowing players to shoot through them.

• Fixed – Drone can clip and remain stuck in Planter Foliage above Main Entrance.

• Fixed – Behind the crates in 2F Armory, there is missing collision on the wall and a drone can fall out of the world.
• Fixed – Textures between reinforceable and indestructible walls allow bullets to pass through.

• Fixed – Players are able to force their character out of the floor's collision and kill opponents outside.

• Fixed – The players can place the defuser in Armory on top of boxes and out of reach for defenders.

• Fixed – Textures between reinforcible and indestructible walls allow bullets to pass through.

• Fixed – When interrupted, some weapon’s reload audio does not properly sync with the animation.
• Fixed – Bad animation when you go from running to walking stance.
• Fixed – Crouched Operators can sometimes have their foot clip into ground.
• Fixed – Montagne's reload animation is broken when viewed from 3rd person.
• Fixed – Inconsistency between the in game headgear and the picture for some of Valkyrie’s headgear.
• Fixed – Arm Protection's straps clip into Rook's uniform.
• Fixed – Knees of Blitz clipping through is Shield when Vaulting
• Fixed – IQ's hand and shoulder have a strange animation when deploying the Electronics Detector.
• Fixed – Rook's face clips through his headgear when being hit.
• Fixed – After Ela’s concussion effect disappears, there is a bad animation with the hands.
• Fixed – Blitz has missing shoulder straps on his default uniform.
• Fixed – Bundles reappear after unlocking them.
• Fixed – The item model will rotate without player input if the player enters a submenu or switches through the available content while rotating the model.
• Fixed – Rook’s Créneau headgear design on the shop image does not reflect the design of the actual headgear.
• Fixed – Valkyrie’s Pop Art headgear thumbnail has normal hair and grey glasses.
• Fixed – Visual artifact visible on the Alpha Pack.
• Fixed – 25 Pack Icon is distinct from the background.
• Fixed – Distinct stripe is sometimes visible on the Alpha Pack.
• Fixed – Sometimes there is a shadow in front of the card pulled from Alpha Packs.
• Fixed – Inconsistency between rarity of gridlock weapon skin.
• Fixed – While entering through a window from rappel while ADS and shooting, ADS animation is broken.
• Fixed – For Scorpion EVO 3 A1, the muzzle flash is too far ahead when a weapon is equipped with Compensator.
• Fixed – The rappel rope/line clips every time you end the action.
• Fixed – When moving while in ADS with any weapon with an ACOG sight, the weapon sight displays minor rubberbanding.
• Fixed – The weapon becomes invisible if quickly switching to and back from a gadget can be equipped and held.
• Fixed – Currency Pack price inconsistency in British Store.
• Fixed – Inconsistency with the Legendary skins missing rarity.
• Fixed – The rotation axis of the Operator’s shields in the charms full screen preview is incorrect when using higher levels of zoom.
• Fixed – Bandit’s Road Hog uniform does not have a rarity.
• Fixed – Gridlock Assault Rifle Bundle has two items without rarity until items are previewed in the shop.
• Fixed – Sledge’s Blood Orchid uniform camo pattern appears too dull and is not very visible.
• Fixed – Corrupted texture can be noticed on the Alembic skin thumbnail after equipping the skin.
• Fixed – The Valkyrie Chibi is invisible in game.
• Fixed – Frost’s Blood Orchid uniform appears too dull, not being very visible.
• Fixed – Blue Nebula Skin does not have a rarity.
• Fixed – The Oak Barrel charm clips into the weapon.
• Fixed – The text on the right side of Ela's headgear is mirrored.
• Fixed – There are more cans of the 30 days booster then the 90 days boosters.
• Fixed – Beatmatch charm is in low resolution.
• Fixed – A typo is present in Ela's description in Spanish localization.
• Fixed – There is no visual indicator for squad members when they are transmitting audio over voice chat.
• Fixed – All Weapon Skins, Charms, Attachments, Headgear and Uniforms are reset to default on every Operator after rebooting the game.
• Fixed – The Fragrant Harbor charm has black reflecting textures on the sails.
• Fixed – The Dancing Auntie charm has missing backface.
• Fixed – The Gold Chibi for Glaz has missing backface.
• Fixed – Images are not loading properly on the Player Profile section of the Rainbow Six website

We have been monitoring the community’s feedback regarding ping abuse, latency, and peeker’s advantage. In this blog, we will explain what these are, how they affect gameplay, and what we are doing to fix them.

Before diving into the details of latency, we want to establish that the design philosophy of Rainbow Six Siege is player replication and hit validation should favor players that have the faster and more stable connection. To that end, we will continue to improve all our systems to provide low and stable ping players with the best experience possible while maintaining the accessibility for higher ping players.


Replication is the process by which we mirror a sequence of movements and actions done by a player on a remote computer, such as a game server. You can think of replication as “ghosts” that follow players. This “ghost” represents your position as seen by the server. For example, if you have a ping of 200ms, your “ghost” is where you were 100ms ago (since ping represents round trip duration). The higher a player’s ping, the further behind the player their “ghost” is.

However, when peeking (moving out of cover), a higher ping will not give you more time to react and shoot before becoming visible to other players. This is because all shots need to be validated by the server, so any increased amount of time will also apply to your shots reaching the server.

Peeker’s advantage is a result of the aforementioned “ghosting” effect. We cannot remove “ghosting”: doing so would require all movements to be validated by the server before taking effect on your client. This would result in increased input delay (equal to your ping), which is contrary to the design philosophy of making movement as reactive as possible. However, unlike the common perception, peeker’s advantage depends only on the speed of the victim’s connection, not the peeker’s.

The maximum time, once the peeker becomes visible, that the victim has in order to shoot and come out on top is what we define as the window of opportunity. Peeker’s advantage is caused by the fact that this window of opportunity is always shorter than the reaction time of the peeker.


Window of opportunity = Reaction time of the peeker – Ping of the victim (including processing time)


In this clip, we will display the difference when the victim (Player 2) has a faster reaction time (150ms) than the peeker (Player 1) (300ms reaction time). You will notice that the increased ping of the peeker has no impact on who wins the firefight. While the peeker was able to fire, the victim had already landed a headshot that was validated by the server, so the peeker’s shot was rejected and they died.

In this video, we will show you how the victim’s ping impacts the result of the shots arbitration. While the reaction times remain the same (150ms for the victim, 300ms for the peeker) we progressively increase the ping of the victim. The ping of the peeker remains constant and we intentionally set it to a high value: 400ms. Increasing the ping of the victim results in a reduction of their window of opportunity. While they are able to win the firefight at low ping (50-100ms), they start losing when their ping is too high (200ms).

We created the following image to demonstrate what you saw in the above videos, without the gameplay. What you are seeing is a timeline of actions, the order in which servers accept input, and how latency influences those steps.





The above asset is showing you how the reaction time of the peeker is preserved on the server and then on the victim simulation, even if the peeker is playing with high ping.





What you are seeing in the above asset is the impact that the victim’s ping has on their chances to survive. The victim will need to fire at his opponent before the peeker’s shot reaches the server which can only be achieved by shooting during his window of opportunity. This window of opportunity is not affected by the peeker’s ping. Once officially dead on the server, all further actions by a player are rejected. This is in line with the design philosophy mentioned at the beginning of this blog, which states that the player with the fastest and most stable connection should have the advantage.


Starting with the Year 2 Season 3 Mid-Season Reinforcements, we will be implementing the following adjustments and changes to how the game manages latency, processing, and hit validation. Our plan is to continue working on these topics during the upcoming seasons.


Latency alignment is a change that allows the server to more accurately mirror the reaction time of a shooter with an unstable connection. If a player is sending position updates at an inconsistent rate, then the server will adjust the timing of their incoming shot messages to match its representation of that player’s commands more accurately. While it is a matter of milliseconds, the end result is a wider window of opportunity when going up against players with fluctuating latency.


We have a new pawn-to-pawn physics system, which should address issues with players teleporting behind shield users. This issue was most commonly experienced while blocking a doorway with Montagne.


We are reducing the upper limit on the latency required to initiate extra hit validation steps. More details about these extra steps and how they affect gameplay will be published in another blog post.


We are also optimizing the replication of actions. The result is a more responsive experience for all players and a reduction of latency.


Currently, the ping value displayed in the menus includes the processing delay. This is misleading, since running at a faster frame rate results in lower ping values being shown. We are removing this processing delay from the ping value. Although only a cosmetic change with no impact on gameplay, the value displayed will be a more accurate representation of your connection speed with the servers.


We are implementing a series of adjustments that will help you monitor the status of your client, of the server, and of your network connection.

With this change, the game will display up to four icons in the upper right corner of your screen. These four icons denote the quality of your gameplay experience concerning your ping, connection stability, update rate and host stability, respectively from left to right.





When one of these is in a degraded state that could affect your performance, the icon appearing will notify you. This will help provide a more accurate representation of your connection status beyond just a player’s ping. The icons have two states: yellow and red. The thresholds for each state can be tweaked at any time by the dev team, therefore the following values are just an approximation of the current settings.

• Latency icon: The latency icon will appear when your ping is high. A yellow latency icon means your ping is high enough for additional validation steps to be triggered by the server (around 100-140 ms of ping). These additional validation steps come into play when treating your shots, and determining whether or not they are a hit. You might notice some of your hits are not registering. Having a high ping also means you could encounter unpleasant situations such as dying behind cover. A red icon means your ping is bad (around 400-500 ms of ping). Being in that state for a long time could result in player being kicked from the game server. When the latency red icon is visible, almost all of your hits will be rejected by the server. This is intended.
• Connection icon: The connection icon appears when you are experiencing packet loss or latency instability (for example, when some of your packets are being redirected on another internet route). When this icon is triggered, you can experience rubber banding, hits being rejected by the game server, and abnormal induced latency. The probability of experiencing those situations is far higher when the red icon is visible.
• Update rate icon: The update rate icon appears when your frame rate is dropping or is unstable and the number of packets sent by your game client to the server is not high enough. You might experience hits being rejected by the game server and abnormal induced latency (this latency is induced by the game server to prevent other players from seeing your character stuttering). You could also experience rubber banding when the icon is red.
• Host icon: The host icons appears when the server is experiencing issues and is unable to preserve the stability of the simulation. All players connected to that game server will see the icon appearing at the same time. When you see this icon, you can experience rubber banding, abnormal latency or hit registration issues. Those situations will be more noticeable if the icon is red.

Most of our upcoming changes will result in a less comfortable experience for high ping players, but this is something that we are doing consciously, and believe it to be in the best interest of the game as a whole.

Please join us to discuss your learnings from this blog on the Rainbow Six subreddit!

We have been monitoring the community’s feedback regarding ping abuse, latency, and peeker’s advantage. In this blog, we will explain what these are, how they affect gameplay, and what we are doing to fix them.

Before diving into the details of latency, we want to establish that the design philosophy of Rainbow Six Siege is player replication and hit validation should favor players that have the faster and more stable connection. To that end, we will continue to improve all our systems to provide low and stable ping players with the best experience possible while maintaining the accessibility for higher ping players.


Replication is the process by which we mirror a sequence of movements and actions done by a player on a remote computer, such as a game server. You can think of replication as “ghosts” that follow players. This “ghost” represents your position as seen by the server. For example, if you have a ping of 200ms, your “ghost” is where you were 100ms ago (since ping represents round trip duration). The higher a player’s ping, the further behind the player their “ghost” is.

However, when peeking (moving out of cover), a higher ping will not give you more time to react and shoot before becoming visible to other players. This is because all shots need to be validated by the server, so any increased amount of time will also apply to your shots reaching the server.

Peeker’s advantage is a result of the aforementioned “ghosting” effect. We cannot remove “ghosting”: doing so would require all movements to be validated by the server before taking effect on your client. This would result in increased input delay (equal to your ping), which is contrary to the design philosophy of making movement as reactive as possible. However, unlike the common perception, peeker’s advantage depends only on the speed of the victim’s connection, not the peeker’s.

The maximum time, once the peeker becomes visible, that the victim has in order to shoot and come out on top is what we define as the window of opportunity. Peeker’s advantage is caused by the fact that this window of opportunity is always shorter than the reaction time of the peeker.


Window of opportunity = Reaction time of the peeker – Ping of the victim (including processing time)


In this clip, we will display the difference when the victim (Player 2) has a faster reaction time (150ms) than the peeker (Player 1) (300ms reaction time). You will notice that the increased ping of the peeker has no impact on who wins the firefight. While the peeker was able to fire, the victim had already landed a headshot that was validated by the server, so the peeker’s shot was rejected and they died.

In this video, we will show you how the victim’s ping impacts the result of the shots arbitration. While the reaction times remain the same (150ms for the victim, 300ms for the peeker) we progressively increase the ping of the victim. The ping of the peeker remains constant and we intentionally set it to a high value: 400ms. Increasing the ping of the victim results in a reduction of their window of opportunity. While they are able to win the firefight at low ping (50-100ms), they start losing when their ping is too high (200ms).

We created the following image to demonstrate what you saw in the above videos, without the gameplay. What you are seeing is a timeline of actions, the order in which servers accept input, and how latency influences those steps.





The above asset is showing you how the reaction time of the peeker is preserved on the server and then on the victim simulation, even if the peeker is playing with high ping.





What you are seeing in the above asset is the impact that the victim’s ping has on their chances to survive. The victim will need to fire at his opponent before the peeker’s shot reaches the server which can only be achieved by shooting during his window of opportunity. This window of opportunity is not affected by the peeker’s ping. Once officially dead on the server, all further actions by a player are rejected. This is in line with the design philosophy mentioned at the beginning of this blog, which states that the player with the fastest and most stable connection should have the advantage.


Starting with the Year 2 Season 3 Mid-Season Reinforcements, we will be implementing the following adjustments and changes to how the game manages latency, processing, and hit validation. Our plan is to continue working on these topics during the upcoming seasons.


Latency alignment is a change that allows the server to more accurately mirror the reaction time of a shooter with an unstable connection. If a player is sending position updates at an inconsistent rate, then the server will adjust the timing of their incoming shot messages to match its representation of that player’s commands more accurately. While it is a matter of milliseconds, the end result is a wider window of opportunity when going up against players with fluctuating latency.


We have a new pawn-to-pawn physics system, which should address issues with players teleporting behind shield users. This issue was most commonly experienced while blocking a doorway with Montagne.


We are reducing the upper limit on the latency required to initiate extra hit validation steps. More details about these extra steps and how they affect gameplay will be published in another blog post.


We are also optimizing the replication of actions. The result is a more responsive experience for all players and a reduction of latency.


Currently, the ping value displayed in the menus includes the processing delay. This is misleading, since running at a faster frame rate results in lower ping values being shown. We are removing this processing delay from the ping value. Although only a cosmetic change with no impact on gameplay, the value displayed will be a more accurate representation of your connection speed with the servers.


We are implementing a series of adjustments that will help you monitor the status of your client, of the server, and of your network connection.

With this change, the game will display up to four icons in the upper right corner of your screen. These four icons denote the quality of your gameplay experience concerning your ping, connection stability, update rate and host stability, respectively from left to right.





When one of these is in a degraded state that could affect your performance, the icon appearing will notify you. This will help provide a more accurate representation of your connection status beyond just a player’s ping. The icons have two states: yellow and red. The thresholds for each state can be tweaked at any time by the dev team, therefore the following values are just an approximation of the current settings.

• Latency icon: The latency icon will appear when your ping is high. A yellow latency icon means your ping is high enough for additional validation steps to be triggered by the server (around 100-140 ms of ping). These additional validation steps come into play when treating your shots, and determining whether or not they are a hit. You might notice some of your hits are not registering. Having a high ping also means you could encounter unpleasant situations such as dying behind cover. A red icon means your ping is bad (around 400-500 ms of ping). Being in that state for a long time could result in player being kicked from the game server. When the latency red icon is visible, almost all of your hits will be rejected by the server. This is intended.
• Connection icon: The connection icon appears when you are experiencing packet loss or latency instability (for example, when some of your packets are being redirected on another internet route). When this icon is triggered, you can experience rubber banding, hits being rejected by the game server, and abnormal induced latency. The probability of experiencing those situations is far higher when the red icon is visible.
• Update rate icon: The update rate icon appears when your frame rate is dropping or is unstable and the number of packets sent by your game client to the server is not high enough. You might experience hits being rejected by the game server and abnormal induced latency (this latency is induced by the game server to prevent other players from seeing your character stuttering). You could also experience rubber banding when the icon is red.
• Host icon: The host icons appears when the server is experiencing issues and is unable to preserve the stability of the simulation. All players connected to that game server will see the icon appearing at the same time. When you see this icon, you can experience rubber banding, abnormal latency or hit registration issues. Those situations will be more noticeable if the icon is red.

Most of our upcoming changes will result in a less comfortable experience for high ping players, but this is something that we are doing consciously, and believe it to be in the best interest of the game as a whole.

Please join us to discuss your learnings from this blog on the Rainbow Six subreddit!