Ubisoft has officially unveiled its Rainbow Six Siege Year 3 Roadmap in all its entirety, revealing 4 seasons that diverge from the traditional release structure that the studio has previously followed. The third year of Rainbow Six Siege content will once again introduce 8 new operators, but only two new maps. The studio will be reworking several of the existing maps in the game, and is also poised to introduce a zombie mode type of event to the game.

The season will kick off with Operation Chimera, which will introduce operators from France and Russia. These operators will be biohazard specialists, and their unique abilities and backstory will tie in directly to a week-long co-operative event called Mission Outbreak. This event sounds like it will be a zombie mode style of event similar to what Call of Duty pushes out, and will group players in co-operative teams of 3 against AI combatants. More details about Mission Outbreak are due to release during the Six Invitational, which takes place from February 13-18 next year.

Season Two will introduce two Italian GIS operators to Rainbow Six Siege, and will follow the traditional release structure of past years. The Gruppo di intervento speciale is a logical addition to the Siege roster, as the specialist group already has close ties to existing in-game units like Great Britain’s SAS, France’s GIGN, Germany’s GSG9, and Spain’s GEO. A map based in Italy will also release alongside the operators.

After this, what Ubisoft is calling a ‘hybrid season’ will take place. Operators from Great Britain and the United States of America will release, but that’s where the traditional release structure ends. Instead of introducing a new map to the fold, Ubisoft will work on heavily rebalancing many of the existing maps in the game. It sounds like a reworked Favela will once again return to the in-game multiplayer rotation, before Ubisoft focuses on changing some of the longstanding maps of the game:

To close out the third year of content, Ubisoft is going to the continent of Africa for the first time in Rainbow Six Siege. Two Moroccan operators and a new map based in the North African country will be released, though little else has been stated about the as-yet-untitled season.

What if House is now set in Christmas, or Hereford Base is in a different time period, or has a new extension in the building?"

In total, 8 new operators and 2 new maps will release in 2018. Ubisoft changing the focus from new maps every season was a conscious decision, as once the game hits around 20 maps the developers worry it will become overwhelming for new players to learn the ropes in each environment. Regardless of map difficulty, it looks like everyone will start off on even footing when Mission Outbreak mixes up the traditional dynamic of the game.

One of the Pro League hosts did confirm that the season passes for Year 3 would become available in mid-December, granting plenty of time for gamers to decide if they’d like to pick it up. While no details were provided on what will come with the new season pass beyond immediately unlocking operators as they release, last year gamers who opted in to the season pass also received custom headgear, battle uniforms, an exclusive charm, and a bonus 600 R6 credits for those who had bought the previous year’s pass.

Rainbow Six Siege is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.