Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege has been a runaway multiplayer hit for Ubisoft, but the recent announcement that it was dropping the $40 Standard Edition of the game and replacing it with a Buy Now caused some consternation among the community. Ubisoft has now backed off from that plan, and a new post from the Rainbow Six team on the Reddit forum confirms that the standard edition will still be available after the start of the upcoming Outbreak event.
“For our newcomers and those of you concerned about introducing your friends to the game, we will be keeping the Standard Edition in the store at the current price,” the post reads. In addition, anyone who logs in and plays a game between now and March 6 will receive a free Sidewinder Elite skin for Ash, which will be automatically added to their inventory when Year 3 launches.
Ubisoft indicated that there’s also an unspecified plan in the works to upgrade Starter Edition PC players who are frustrated with their inability to acquire operators. Those details will be announced in conjunction with the next Invitational tournament.
The Advanced Edition of the game comes with everything included in the standard edition, including all modes and maps, but also offers 600 Rainbow Six credits and 10 “Outbreak Collection Packs” for the new zombie-focused content.
The Outbreak event, which doesn’t appear to have a concrete starting date yet, will run for four weeks and features a three-player cooperative mode that focuses on a “mysterious threat” that involves a quarantine. Though Tom Clancy’s The Division prided itself on not including zombies, it appears that Rainbow Six Siege has no such concerns.
Exclusive hazmat cosmetic items will be available during the event, which can be found in the Outbreak Packs included with the Advanced Edition. Additional items can be purchased for 300 Rainbow Six credits. All players who log in during the event will receive an additional four items — if you bought the Advanced Edition, you’ll receive 14 in total. As with the new Battle Crates in Ghost Recon Wildlands, the Rainbow Six Siege Outbreak Packs will not contain any duplicate items. There will be 50 in total to acquire, including outfits, weapon skins, and headgear.
On PC, you still have the option of purchasing the “starter edition” of Rainbow Six Siege for just $15, and it includes access to all maps and modes, as well as 600 credits, but the time to unlock new operators is increased compared to the other versions of the game. A $90 “Gold Edition” is also available, containing the Advanced Edition and a year 3 pass, which offers early access to operators, exclusive uniforms, renown boost, and discounts in the store. If you want to jump in with both feet, the $130 “Complete Edition” includes all content in the Gold Edition and unlocks your Year 1 and Year 2 operators in advance.
Rainbow Six Siege is available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.
Updated with Ubisoft’s new post about retaining the Standard Edition.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.