Metal Gear's Solid Snake is joining Rainbow Six: Siege X as its next character

The annual Six Invitational tournament for competitive Rainbow Six: Siege X has come to a close and this naturally means that developer Ubisoft Montreal has shared a glimpse at what the next year holds for the tactical shooter.

Year 11 is going to be another big one and it will be highlighted by the arrival of one of gaming's most iconic characters. Ubisoft and Konami are collaborating to bring Solid Snake to Rainbow Six: Siege X as the next playable character. Coming as part of the first season of Year 11 that begins on March 3, a season known as Operation Silent Hunt, the tactical espionage veteran will be bringing his signature Tacit .45 semi-automatic pistol to the game with its integrated suppressor, and offering gameplay centred around "stealth, agility, and tactical intelligence, offering valuable recon abilities for attacking players to gain the advantage in a match." Solid Snake is also voiced by the legendary David Hayter in Rainbow Six too.

Beyond Solid Snake's debut, Season 1 will also bring a new 1v1 Arcade mode to the game as part of a two-week-long limited time event. This is on top of a Redacted event that sees Snake and Zero (Sam Fisher) combining to lead a crack team of operators in a mission to recover stolen data. Also, despite only launching the mode with Rainbow Six: Siege X, Ubisoft intends to remove the Dual Front mode during Season 1 so that the development team can "focus on the core 5v5 experience."

Looking beyond Season 1, Seasons 2, 3, and 4 will each bring additional content to the game, with the full roadmap of plans for Year 11 available to see below. Some of the key points are that Dokkaebi is being reworked in Season 2, a Vegas-era map is coming called Calypso Casino, a new Defender is arriving in Season 3, and a more advanced Operator Progression feature is on its way too.