Rainbow Six Siege's first free DLC: Operation Black Ice brought the Yacht map

Ubisoft shipped the first of Rainbow Six Siege’s four planned expansions — Operation Black Ice — and with it, the release model that would define the game for the next decade: major content drops, free for everyone.

Operation Black Ice added a new map, two operators, weapon skins, a spectator camera for custom games, and a long list of balance fixes in a 3.6GB update. The Yacht map arrived immediately, and its brief remains one of Siege’s best: “In Baffin Bay, a luxury yacht has struck an iceberg and has an opening in the hull. The Rainbow team was sent to secure the ship — a submarine has been identified moored just off the boat.”

The two new operators were agents of Canada’s JTF 2, trained to work in extreme conditions. Season Pass owners got instant access; everyone else waited the standard seven days or unlocked them with R6 Credits or Renown — the cadence every Siege season has followed since.

Black Ice set the template for Siege’s nine-year content run. If the trailer tempts you back, the base Rainbow Six Siege package now carries years of seasons behind it.