Rainbow Six Siege Could Be Getting a Splinter Cell Operator

The next operator coming to Rainbow Six Siege could potentially be related to Ubisoft's Splinter Cell franchise. Windows Central first spotted a post from Rainbow Six Siege dataminer Zer0Bytes_ on Reddit, who appears to have found a set of strings in the game's code that reveal the codenames for future Year 5 operators. The Year 5 Season 3 Operator is referred to as "Scout - ECH (Echelon/Third Echelon)" which suggests that the next in-game agent could be a part of the top-secret NSA organization that Splinter Cell Sam Fisher was a part of. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/18/rainbow-six-siege-steel-wave-operators-gameplay-gadgets-and-starter-tips-video"] Some have pointed out that this doesn't line up with the Year 5 roadmap for Rainbow Six Siege, which lists the Season 3 operator as "Classified" and offers a logo for Nighthaven, a suspect in-game organization. However, Rainbow Six Siege Product Director Roy Del Valle told Windows Central in a previously unpublished interview that the logo "shouldn't be there." "As of late, the last two weeks or something, we tweaked some things on the narrative that you'll discover, and you'll be very happy with, that does not necessarily strictly link to Nighthaven," Del Valle told Windows Central in February. This suggests that the development team's plans for the Season 3 operator may have changed since the roadmap was circulated, which makes the Splinter Cell crossover more viable. To add fuel to the fire, Siege game designer Jean-Baptiste Halle gave an interview to Dualshockers, posted just yesterday, that appears to support the idea of operators from other Ubisoft games. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/04/09/tom-clancys-ghost-recon-wildlands-special-operation-1-splinter-cell"] Dualshockers asked Halle which character from other Ubisoft franchises they think would work in Siege, to which Halle responded: "There is a lot of characters in Ubisoft's portfolio that could make very interesting additions in our roster", and continued, "Just keep an eye on the next Operator additions this year and you might get some interesting new people coming into the roster." Halle added, "That's all I can say so far." Halle's allusion to near-future Operator additions certainly suggests that one of the upcoming characters may well be related to a Ubisoft franchise, and all signs point to Splinter Cell. Of course, you still have to take this report with a big pinch of salt as nothing is confirmed just yet, but it's worthwhile knowledge for Splinter Cell fans keen to hear more about the franchise's future. Ubisoft hasn't released a Splinter Cell game since 2013's Blacklist, but has been very much keeping the series in the public eye, with references popping up in Assassin's Creed, and Sam Fisher's appearance in Ghost Recon Wildlands. The creative director of the last two Splinter Cell games has recently returned to Ubisoft. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.