Say hello to Solid Snake from the Metal Gear Solid series.
It’s a big ask for Rainbow Six Siege, a towering behemoth of unique operators and fancy gadgets, to surprise us. Surely after 10 years, 40 seasons and 76 operators you’d rightly think that we’d seen it all, but it seems Ubisoft still has plenty of tricks up its sleeves. As its 11th year looms on the horizon, Stevivor was invited along to Paris to get some hands on time with Season 1’s Operation Silent Hunt and try out the newest operator: the Legendary Soldier himself.
Yes, that’s right, the newest operator joining the roster in Rainbow Six Siege is none other than Solid Snake from the Metal Gear Solid series. This marks the first time we’ve seen someone from outside of Ubisoft’s vast catalogue of characters debut in Siege, and the second non-Rainbow character. The first, of course, is another expert in tactical espionage, none other than Splinter Cell‘s Sam Fisher.
Seeing Solid Snake so lovingly recreated in his Shadow Moses-era drip is utter perfection, especially for me, a long time fan of Metal Gear Solid. Equipped with his iconic SOCOM pistol (now called the TACIT-45) and voiced by David Hayter, it’s clear that Ubisoft pulled out all the stops to really nail this Rainbow Six version of Solid Snake.
Speaking to Stevivor at the preview event in Paris, Rainbow Six Siege creative director Joshua Mills stressed that it was absolutely critical that they served this iconic legend as best as possible.
“When we stepped into this and presented it to the team, everybody understood how serious we were gonna be about this,” Mills said. “That’s why there’s details dripping all over the operator that just scream this dedication to perfection on it.”
Snake’s gadget is a shining example of this; he wields the Soliton Radar Mk. III, a handheld detection tool that can alert Snake to nearby enemies. The device is perfect for ratting out off-site roamers, allowing attackers to not just locate the wiley defender, but see exactly which direction they’re facing and plan accordingly.
It’s not just a new gadget that makes Solid Snake a special addition. Most operators get access to one or two different secondary gadget options — usually a frag or stun grenade. Not our Snake though; not only can he choose from five different gadgets, he also gets access to the OSP — that’s short for On Site Procurement — pouch.
While this limits him to bringing in just one piece of utility initially, dead enemy operators will drop these pouches that can then be used to refill your utility mid-round. You can even choose to switch to a different item if that’s what the situation calls for.
There’s more coming in Y11S1 than just Solid Snake though. First off, there’s a whole event accompanying his arrival, featuring skins of other classic Metal Gear characters including Meryl, Ocelot, and Gray Fox. Then there’s also a special game mode using the soon-to-be-sunset Dual Front game type, functioning as somewhat of a last hurrah before Dual Front is removed entirely in Year 11 Season 2.
It’s set to be a big year ahead for Siege, with a suite of other updates slated to come all throughout Year 11. This includes a new map themed after Rainbow Six Vegas, Calypso Casino, the debut of the Shieldguard Secure Platform — a kernel level anti-cheat — and yet another rework of the ranked playlist, Ranked 3.0. This will all be supported by a shift in approach to balance too, moving away from the once-per-season update cadence and over to four updates to prevent meta stagnation.
As a lifelong Metal Gear Solid fan, it’s hard to overstate how excited I am for this upcoming season of Rainbow Six Siege. It’s no small effort to generate real excitement in a game that’s pushing into its 11th year, but the moment I heard Hayter reprising his role as Snake I was completely sold. I’ll be diving in day one.
Rainbow Six Siege is currently available on Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PS4, and PS5. Snake goes live with Year 11 Season 1 on 3 March 2026.
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Rainbow Six Siege1 December 2015PC PS4 PS5 Xbox One Xbox Series S & X
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Hamish Lindsay travelled to Paris, France in order to cover Rainbow Six Siege. Travel and accommodation were paid for by Ubisoft.
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