Ubisoft has announced that any interested player will be able to try out Rainbow Six Siege for free during an extended free-play weekend period that begins on Thursday, August 16 (apparently nobody told Ubisoft that Thursday isn’t technically part of the weekend).
According to this announcement on the Rainbow Six Siege website, the free-play weekend will begin on August 16 and last until next Monday, August 20, giving participants five whole days to see if the game is for them. An FAQ in the announcement post confirms the free-play period will be available on both PC and consoles, with specific start times being slightly staggered across Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC (the free-play period will be live on all platforms by 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST on August 16).
The FAQ also confirms that free-play weekend players will be able to access all of the content found in Rainbow Six Siege’s “full version,” which we interpret as all of the non-DLC content found in the base game as it was when it first launched (so no DLC operators or maps). Unsurprisingly, Rainbow Six Siege’s price will be discounted during the free-play period, and any progress a player makes will carry over should they decide to purchase the game once the free-play weekend ends.
The free-play weekend also coincides with the first ever Rainbow Six Major championships where sixteen teams will head to Paris to compete for a share of a $350,000 prize pool. The championships will begin on August 17 and run throughout the weekend. The Paris Major is also where Ubisoft will fully unveil the recently teased Operation Grim Sky, the latest seasonal update for Rainbow Six Siege. Operation Grim Sky follows closely on the heels of Siege’s 2.2 update which made some sweeping changes to the game’s operator roster.