Let's face it; rebranding your longstanding, hugely popular online product with a big letter 'X' is not always a smart move. Apropos of nothing however, I'll go on to say that Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege X has set itself up to expand its userbase rather than decimate it, combat toxicity rather than encourage it, and overall it's the best it's ever been rather than the worst it's ever been. This is one X that does give it to us.
That big ol' X is a nod to the fact that the game is now 10 years old. With Rainbow Six Siege marking the anniversary by going free-to-play, there will be a lot of people playing for the first time. The use of the word 'siege' in the title hints at the nature of the core modes that they'll find – both attack and defense centered around an objective or two (an area to defend, a pair of bombs, or a hostage) within a building. A prep phase sees the attacker team sending in ground drones to find the objective and identify defenders, while the defenders can reinforce (or blow holes in) walls, set traps, and choose their positions. Then, the siege begins.
