Rainbow Six Siege Leaves Out Past Characters for a New Universe at E3 2015

Ding Chavez, a playable character from the first Rainbow Six game in 1998, and who appeared in later titles such as Rainbow Six: Vegas and its sequel, will not be returning in Rainbow Six Siege. The character is considered one of the most popular playable Rainbow operators, and has featured in wider Tom Clancy fiction such as the Rainbow Six novel as well as the 1994 film Clear and Present Danger, starring Harrison Ford.

Rainbow Six Siege game designer Andrew Witts elaborates on why Chavez will not return for Ubisoft's latest instalment: "It's a very complicated thing with the Clancy-verse and the books and things. For Siege, we wanted to have our own universe and not have to make a sequel or anything like that. Siege is its own universe with its own new terrorist faction, and new operators."

Instead, Ubisoft is focusing on creating its own new playable operators who will each have distinct personalities inspired by their unique gadgets they bring to the field, such as shock drones, sledgehammers, and breaching charges.

For more, check out GameSpot's hands-on preview of the game's returning Terrorist Hunt mode. Rainbow Six Siege will also have a beta arriving later in the year before its release on Xbox One, PS4, and PC in October.