Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege is still flourishing and growing, proving that innovative competitive multiplayer gameplay can grow and succeed without pay-to-win microtransactions or real-money loot boxes. Are you paying attention, Activision and Electronic Arts?

During the Rainbow Six Pro League season 3 finals this weekend, Ubisoft used the event to fully unveil the new operators and map coming as the final expansion of Rainbow Six Siege year 2, Operation White Noise, while also announcing Year 3 plans which - for the first time since launch - adds a new (temporary?) mode...

First, finishing of year 2, Ubisoft is making good on having delayed content for a full six months earlier in the year when they pushed back one of the planned content drops to focus on "Operation Health" with the goal of improving the quality of the game itself to safeguard it's long-term future. Due to that delay, players got one less new map in 2017 and it meant the Year 2 Season 3 (Operation Blood Orchid) DLC included not two, but three operators, and the same is happening for the Year 2 Season 4 drop, Operation White Noise which adds the second Polish operator (Zofia), and a pair of all-new South Korean operators which are detailed in the video up top. They add some of the most innovative and game-changing abilities the game has seen to date. And the same goes for the skyscraper-set map.

Operation White Noise Release Date and Details

Rainbow Six Siege's Operation White Noise goes live on technical test servers tomorrow, November 20, 2017, with a full release date expected in December.

In Operation White Noise, two 707th Special Mission Battalion Operators scale the snow-capped Mok Myeok Tower to lead a rescue mission in Seoul, South Korea. The modern communications and observation tower offers fresh vertical vantage points overlooking the entire cityscape, and sets the stage for diverse multilevel tactics.

1. Dokkaebi (real name: Grace Nam) is an attack operator equipped with a Mk 14 EBR Marksman Rifle and BOSG 12.2 shotgun as primary weapons, with a C75 Auto and SMG-12 Machine Pistols as secondary options. Her unique ability is interesting, and almost too goofy for the game at a glance. She can hack the defending team's phones which will make them ring continuously until they hold down a button to turn it off. It gives their position away until they do so.

That's not all though. Dokkaebi can also hack the phone of a killed enemy to give all of her teammates access to all of the defending team's cameras (including Valkyrie's Black Eye cams). That means, teams of communicating players may not be so quick to automatically shoot all the cameras down.

2. Vigil is the defending South Korean 707th operator who has the ability to render himself invisible to cameras and drones for up to 20 seconds. The ability works similar to Caveira's with a cooldown. He still can be countered by Thatcher's EMP grenades, Jackal's footprint detector, and IQ's detector screen though.

Vigil's weapons include K1A Submachine Gun and the BOSG.12.2 Shotgun, with the same secondaries as Dokkaebi (C75 and SMG-12). Gadgets include barbed wire or impact grenades.

3. The third operator is the second Polish operator and the sister to the first, Ela. The new operator, an attacker, is named Zofia Bosak and she utilizes a doubled-barrelled grenade launch which features explosive and concussion shots and who doesn't require reloads.

Operation White Noise also comes with all-new pistol animations to make it a more formidable weapon, new UI indicators for operations, new grenade mechanics, server improvements and a ton of bug fixes that are detailed by Ubisoft here.

Year 3 Plans For Rainbow Six Siege

Year 3 will be structured into four Seasons, similar to the first two years, and includes:

  • 8 new operators from the world’s highly performing CTUs.
  • 2 brand new maps set in Italy and Morocco
  • 1 existent map make over with a new level design and art direction

Year 3 will kick off with Operation Chimera which adds two operators who are specialists in biohazard situations. They'renot only playable in adversarial multiplayer like the rest of the ops but during four weeks they will have to face a major threat in what will be the game’s first co-op event ever, named Outbreak. This event will be playable during four weeks for free for Rainbow Six Siege owners. It will also feature an exclusive collection of cosmetics, available only during the time of the event. We followed up with Ubisoft to see if this mode is only available for the four weeks or if it becomes a paid-for expansion after and were told that it will "only be available" for that 4-week window. More details on Outbreak are coming soon.

Rainbow Six Siege Year 3 Outbreak Coop Teaser Art

The full reveal of Operation Chimera and Outbreak will take place in Montreal at the Six Invitational 2018. More information on Year 3 will be coming soon.

That teaser image above for Outbreak, and judging by its name and Operation Chimera's new operators being "specialists in biohazard situations" this could be some undead/zombie related co-op experience but we really hope it isn't. Call of Duty has run zombie co-op into the ground. Be different, Ubisoft! Then again, "Chimera" refers to the a fire-breathing female with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail who who knows.

More: Our Original Rainbow Six Siege Review

Inspired by real-world counter-terrorist organizations, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege puts players in the middle of lethal close-quarter confrontations. For the first time in a Rainbow Six game, players will engage in sieges, a new style of assault where enemies have the means to transform their environments into modern strongholds while Rainbow Six teams lead the assault to breach the enemy’s position. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege gives players unprecedented control over their ability to fortify their position by reinforcing walls and floors, using barbed wire and deployable shields, laying mines and more, or to breach the enemies’ position using observation drones, setting charges, rappelling and more. The fast pace and uniqueness of each siege sets a new bar for intense firefights, strategic gameplay and competitive gaming.