Earlier today, Ubisoft offered Rainbow Six Siege fans an early look at what's coming in the 2025 season.
Following BLAST's takeover of the competitive scene in Year 8, the number of Six Majors was reduced from two to three. Additionally, new regional divisions were created as the number of participating rosters in each Major was increased from 16 to 24.
Although Year 9 saw the return of Six Invitational regional qualifiers and a reduction in the number of competitors at both BLAST R6 Majors, nothing can be compared to what's coming in Year 10.
Here's what's changing in Rainbow Six Siege's competitive scene ahead of the upcoming season:
Calendar changes
The first off-season of the year will start after the conclusion of the Six Invitational 2025 and it will go from March to April. Instead, Tier 2 teams will be given the chance to compete in the Challenger Series, where rosters will play to earn a promotion to their respective regional top-flight
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege's 2025 season for top-flight teams will officially begin in May with the Kick-off event, which will replace the first BLAST R6 Major of the year. As explained in Ubisoft's blog post:
This new event, evolved from our traditional May Majors, will bring together the biggest teams in Rainbow Six Esports for an exciting, high-energy start to the season. While we're not ready to reveal all the details yet, fans can expect an amazing experience filled with fun, excitement, and warmer weather.
Between June and October, top-flight teams will compete in their respective regional divisions, which will be divided into two splits. There will be a short break in August "for third-party competitions" — which will likely be the Esports World Cup.
In November, teams will face off in the BLAST R6 Major November. The regional finals will take place one month later. Later on, between December and January, teams that didn't qualify for the Six Invitational 2026 through the Global Standings will have a second chance in the regional qualifiers. Finally, in February 2026, the Six Invitational 2026 will take place in France.
Challenger Series
The Challenger Series will run during the off-season and will offer Tier 2 teams a chance at qualifying for their respective top-flight division. The Challenger Series will take place between the Six Invitational 2025 and the Kick-off Event.
The Challenger Series will be divided into the following stages:
- Open Qualifiers: The open qualifiers will be open to all teams.
- Group Phase: The best teams from the open qualifiers will qualify for the group stage.
- Playoffs: The top teams from the group stage will qualify for the playoffs.
- Promotion Final: The best teams from the playoffs will face off in the promotion final.
R6 Share update
The R6 Share program is changing ahead of the 2025 season. Next year, teams included in the R6 Share program will release multiple bundles throughout the season, instead of only releasing one. "After working closely with our partners, we've determined that introducing multiple releases per year will enhance sustainability as the program continues to evolve."
However, to introduce these changes, R6 Share is experiencing a decrease in the number of teams as only twenty organizations will take part in the program.
"To secure the resources devoted to these additional releases for the entirety of the program, the number of supported organizations had to be adjusted and through consideration of a competitive application process, 20 partner teams have been selected."
Despite the decrease in the number of teams included in the R6 Share program, Ubisoft will introduce the Affiliate Program. "The Affiliate Program will offer financial support to help with the operational sustainability of teams outside the Partner Program, through a revenue sharing pool."
More details will be unveiled at the BLAST R6 Major Montreal, so keep on checking SiegeGG for more updates!