Much like other games, Siege's full-fledged Battle Pass will be divided into free and paid tracks. You can earn items by completing goals in either track, but you can safely presume that the most desirable goodies will only be available in the paid tier. Either pass will shed more light on Rainbow director Dr. Harishva "Harry" Pandey, who'll serve as a narrator explaining the origins of Rainbow Six's various operators.

The third season, Operation Ember Rise, introduces both a reworked Kanal map (with new paths and stairs to improve navigation) as well as two new operators. The Peruvian attacker Amaru (above) sports a Garra grappling hook that helps her infiltrate windows "in record time," while the Mexican defender Goyo will brandish a Volcan Shield that both blocks pathways and packs an incendiary bomb.

The test server for Ember Rise switches on August 19th. It'll take a while after that before the season is broadly available.

It's unsurprising that Ubisoft would go the pass route. This provides a steady stream of money from players determined to have the latest gear, and gives players an incentive to play regularly when they might otherwise take a break. Whether or not gamers leap on the concept is another story. Siege has remained popular even in the face of heated competition, but there's no guarantee that a formula borrowed from battle royale titles will translate well here.