Rainbow Six Siege was originally a tricky proposition. Between Battlefield, Call of Duty, and Counter-Strike, back in 2015, it felt like online shooters were driven more by outright aggression and pace than by tactics and teamwork. Ubisoft was trying to take the mechanics of slow-burn, single-player FPS classics like SWAT 4, Ghost Recon, and of course the R6 series itself, and make them work in competitive multiplayer. It wasn’t easy, but nine years and dozens of seasons later, the studio has clearly made Siege’s mix of brains and brawn into a success. XDefiant might be closing down, but with Year 9 Season 4 and Operation Collision Point underway, Rainbow Six Siege is as strong as ever, and now you can play it for the low, low price of zero dollars.
The new Rainbow Six Siege update rebalances operators, abilities, and gadgets, but more importantly, it introduces crossplay. Now, PC players can unite with or compete against their console counterparts – and it seems to be a hit. In the past 30 days, the average player base for Rainbow Six Siege on Steam has swelled by 30%. A more intense, steadier, white-knuckle counterpart to the arcade-y style of modern-day CoD, if you haven’t tried Ubisoft’s flagship FPS yet, alongside the new update and influx of fresh opponents, it’s currently completely free to play.
Rainbow Six Siege is totally free to try until Thursday December 12. If you want to keep going after that, Siege is also available via a deep discount on Steam. You can get it for $7.99 / £7.19, although that sale also ends on Thursday December 12. The Deluxe, Operator, and Ultimate editions of Siege are also on sale for the same period. You can access the free-to-play period and buy whichever version you prefer right here.
Unfortunately, despite the ongoing success of Siege, Ubsisoft’s other major online shooter, XDefiant, is no more. A totally free-to-play FPS that was originally poised to take on Call of Duty and Counter-Strike 2, the fate of XDefiant has seemingly been sealed by low player numbers. If you have it downloaded, you can still play until June 2025, and Ubisoft is refunding some in-game purchases. You can find out more here.
Otherwise, try some of the best multiplayer games, or maybe the best co-op games available on PC right now.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or grab our PCGN deals tracker to net yourself some bargains.