Rainbow 6 Siege is getting a cosmetics marketplace run by players

Ubisoft today unveiled the next seasonal update incoming for Rainbow Six Siege. Dubbed Operation Deep Freeze, this Year 8 Season 4 update has a brand-new Operator with a freeze ability, a new map, and even a way to buy and sell cosmetic items straight from Valve's playbook.

The new Operator is Tubarão, a specialist that's joining the defending side. His unique gadget is the Zoto Canister, a throwable that freezes an area around it causing all gadgets to be disabled and foes to be slowed. Adding another layer, opponents hit by the freeze effect also leave behind footsteps on the ground for keen-eyed defenders to follow from lower floors.

If enemies don't shoot or disable it in some way, Zoto Canisters eventually run out of juice and stops emitting its cold waves, bringing the nearby gadgets back to life. Like usual for new Operators, Tubarão will first be available through the Premium Battle Pass, followed by Renown and R6 Credits options two weeks later.

At the same time, Lair is the new map joining Siege, which is a super-villain's bunker-like arena built into a cavern. Catch the gameplay overview video above to get a good look at the map in action.

Another big change hitting the game sometime this season is the Marketplace. Akin to popular Valve multiplayer live-service titles like Team Fortress 2, Counter Strike 2 and Dota 2, Siege players will soon be able to buy and sell cosmetics straight from other players. The currency in use for these "trades" will be R6 Credits, the premium credits that Ubisoft sells in-game. It's unclear how the prices will be set for items, and how much of a cut will Ubisoft take from each transaction.

Rainbow Six Siege Marketplace will be going live sometime in 2024 via a mobile app and website. For those that want to try it out early and offer some feedback to the developers, a beta sign-up page for the upcoming service can be found here.

Other changes incoming with Operation Deep Freeze includes new PVE game modes for new players to learn maps, removal of Terrorist Hunt, and removing the ability to cook grenades before throwing them.

Rainbow Six Siege Year 8 Season 4: Operation Deep Freeze is hitting test servers on Monday, November 13. All players will be able to jump in on November 28 when it hits live servers, if the schedule holds up.