Rainbow Six Siege Will Bring Hostage and Secure Area Back to Quick Match in Y11S4

Ubisoft also plans a Half Reinforcements test and will end seasonal Ranked map rotations.

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Rainbow Six Siege Community Checkpoint 6 title graphic surrounded by flying debris.

Hostage and Secure Area will return to Rainbow Six Siege’s Quick Match rotation in Year 11 Season 4, giving both modes another chance to find an audience. Ubisoft is also preparing a separate Hostage rework for testing, with a longer-term goal of bringing the mode back to competitive play if player feedback supports it.

Ranked players have a change coming too. Seasonal map pool rotations will end next season in favor of a more stable selection of roughly 15 maps, including the nine played in professional competition. Ubisoft said rotations often frustrated players when a favorite map was replaced, and it wants the revised approach to give teams a more consistent pool to learn.

Half Reinforcements and Hostage are headed for testing

Before the Hostage rework reaches a wider audience, Y11S4’s limited-time Testing Grounds event will let players try Half Reinforcements. The feature is intended to open up different defensive setups and site construction options without changing live matches.

Ubisoft said in its Community Checkpoint recap that a Hostage rework will be the next Testing Grounds experiment after Half Reinforcements. The team wants to assess whether the revised mode is fair, strategically deep and suited to competition before making a larger commitment. Not every Testing Grounds idea is guaranteed to reach the live game.

Quick Match’s returning modes are a more immediate part of that plan. Ubisoft said Hostage and Secure Area have had less opportunity to evolve than Bomb and have drawn fewer players. Their return will give the team a chance to see how players engage with them as it works on Hostage.

The 3v3 Arcade playlist will also return in Y11S4. Introduced during Operation Split Fire, the limited-time mode used shorter rounds and smaller teams, and Ubisoft said it became one of Siege’s most successful limited-time offerings.

Legend Division is live, with more balance changes ahead

The permanent solo-queue Legend Division launched with the mid-season update. Entry requires a current Champion rank, clearance level 200 or higher, Platinum rank or above in the previous season, and reputation standing level three or higher. Players also need the R6 Shieldguard Secure Platform, Secure Boot and 2-Step Account Verification. Its ruleset is more competitive than the regular Ranked playlist, and Ubisoft plans to monitor feedback.

On the balance front, a TCSG nerf is planned for Y11S4. Before then, update 3.3 will bring smaller adjustments to Denari, Jackal and the Commando. Ubisoft said that will be the last update in its current format. Starting next season, .1 and .3 patches will contain fewer changes intended to have a greater effect, while season launches and mid-season updates will remain larger.

Ubisoft is also testing prototypes for Mira and Zofia, though it has not planned balance changes for either operator. The mid-season balance changes are already in place, including stronger shield pressure for Noor and a new firing mode for Tachanka.

Rainbow Six Siege Y11S3 Mid-Season Patch Notes

Noor

Horus Lance Launcher drilling time is reduced to 1.5s (from 2s) on soft surfaces, ballistic shields, and hard surfaces
Horus Lance Launcher Guardbreak strength on projectile impact against ballistic shield Operators is increased to 100% (from 30%)
Horus Lance Launcher equip timings reduced to 0.4s (from 0.9s) via Quickdraw animations
Direct impact damage against Operators increased to 80 (from 50)
Horus Lance Launcher now damages ballistic shield Operators during sheild removal animation
General hitbox improvements

Tachanka

Shumika Launcher – added a switch ability to the launcher. It can now fire in Impact Mode (default), in which the projectile will explode on impact with any surface, or Bounce Mode, in which the projectile won’t explode when colliding with fragile objects such as glass or papers. In Bounce Mode, projectiles will pass through fragile items, and the fire will be pointed at the floor from the impact point

Snake

Soliton Radar MK III – precision charges reduced to three (from four)

Valkyrie

Glaive-12 added as a Secondary Weapon

Captião

Delay between fire expansions reduced to 0.9 seconds (from 1 second)

Clash

Slowdown strength when running away from her is increased to 10% (from 5%)

OSA

Reduced deployment restrictions:
Frontal space reduced to 0.25m (from 1.1)
Vertical space reduced to 0.6m (from 6.25)
Space behind player reduced to 0.005m (from 0.3)

Fire

Damage increased to 14HP (from 12)
Affects Tachanka, Goyo, Capitao, Dokkaebi, Noor, and Gas Pipes

Barbed Wire

Completely stops the BU-GI OF RAM

How do you feel about Hostage returning to Quick Match while its rework is tested? For more on Siege’s changing modes and balance plans, follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, Telegram.

Rainbow Six Siege X is the reference in tactical team shooters, where elite strategy and execution triumph. Enjoy free access to Quick Match, Unranked and Dual Front game modes with a selection of operators.