Rainbow Six Siege Closed Beta Starts Today

The day has come. Rainbow Six Siege's Closed Beta starts today, September 24, across PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Ubisoft started inviting people in at 9 AM EDT, but if you didn't get in right away, no need to panic. The developer plans to add more people to the mix in various waves throughout the day.

The Siege beta runs through Monday, September 28. To get in, you'll need to preorder the game or acquire a key through other means.

Ubisoft says the main goal for the Closed Beta is to test the game's online infrastructure and matchmaking systems on a wider level than the previous alpha testing periods. This is a beta, so some connectivity and matchmaking problems are to be expected here and there.

"Known issues, emergency outages, and server maintenance times will all be communicated on the official forums and subreddit so please pay attention to those places for the latest info," Ubisoft said. A list of current known issues is available here.

The developer also points out that the content available in Siege's closed beta--14 operators, three maps, and three modes--is just a "small sample of the full scope of the game."

Siege was originally slated to launch in October, but it was recently delayed to December. Ubisoft has high hopes for Siege, as the publisher said back in May that the game has the potential to become the company's best-selling FPS ever, surpassing Far Cry 4. At the time, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said the game's replayability "will be key to the game's success."