Ubisoft has launched Rainbow Six Mobile worldwide, with rollout confirmed for regions such as Europe, Asia, and Africa. The game was previously in closed beta for the better part of four years.
“No more waiting, Operators, it’s time” the official Instagram post showcasing the new live-action trailer reveals. Rainbow Six Mobile was announced in 2022 before radio silence fell across official channels throughout 2023.
Developed by Ubisoft Nova and available on Android and iOS, Rainbow Six Mobile translates Siege‘s 5v5 attack and defense core gameplay loop to handheld hardware. It’s not a direct conversion of the storied esports game, but rather an adaptation made for touchscreens.
27 Siege Operators make the cut for the R6M launch window, with a target of 38 playable characters planned for 2026. This includes familiar faces such as Rook, Mute, Bandit, Smoke, Ash, Sledge, and Thermite, who PC and console players will already been keenly aware of.
Operation Sand Wraith kicks off the worldwide launch of R6M, including a new Operator named Deimos. This menacing, hooded figure is claimed to be a “cold and methodical hunter” thanks to his DeathMARK Tracker, a flying probe which can identify enemies.
The official worldwide launch of R6M also brings back limited-time events, such as Most Wanted, which sees smaller encounters of 3v3 (instead of the usual 5v5) over certain weeks. It’s also, unfortunately, tied to two premium Battle Passes for in-game cosmetics and progression items, as many mobile spin-offs have done with varying levels of success.
Is it too late for Rainbow Six Mobile to succeed?
A lifetime of innovation has hit the mobile esports world since R6M was first announced in April 2022. Nearly four years have passed since the dedicated mobile development team promised an authentic Siege experience in the palm of your hands, and it’s possible the novelty has worn off now.
We now live in a conflicted world for mobile esports games; a time where VALORANT Mobile is tearing things up in China, but in the West, Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile will cease to exist later this year. In other words, it seems like a case of coming too late for R6M, like it’s fulfilling an obligation rather than delivering a must-play experience.
Ubisoft hasn’t had the greatest PR run recently. The publisher has suffered severe backlash since cancelling the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake, and five other titles, which saw its stocks plummet last month. Could R6M be something of a band-aid solution to win back player trust? It doesn’t seem like the big swing Siege fans were hoping for.
For more on Rainbow Six from Kyusai, read our most-wanted R6 Siege operators who could follow on from the incoming Solid Snake.
