Rainbow Six Siege X Testing Ground Playlist Launches

Rainbow Six Siege X Testing Ground has been added to the live game for players to test out experimental features without the need for the Test Server. The new playlist will be used to test the latest ideas from Ubisoft that impact the game, crucially on the live client, rather than the Test Server.

Rainbow Six Siege X Testing Ground Playlist

Unlike the Test Server, which generally opens up a few weeks before a major patch release. This new Playlist will work as a way for Ubisoft to drop updates to a corner of the live game without impacting the core game. The Test Server did sometimes came online mid-season for changes, but again, this was crucial to test major changes for the overall patch. With the Testing Ground Playlist, however, Ubisoft can test a core major change. For example, the first Playlist will focus on the Armor & Speed change that was talked about in the last Test Server.

Testing Grounds: Armor & Speed 🛡️👟

The Testing Grounds playlist is now live in-game until January 15th.

Experiment with new options to adjust Armor and Speed, giving you more ways to adjust your favorite operators. Share your feedback in the community survey in-game ✏️ pic.twitter.com/WclsCZ1JdX

— Rainbow Six Siege X (@Rainbow6Game) January 8, 2026

One important note for the Testing Ground Playlist is that these are not guaranteed changes; they are experiments. Though, the intention is likely to push them live eventually. The reason for a playlist is likely to get more eyes on the tests, with the Test Server being a separate client and PC only, which limits the number of people who use it on a regular basis.

The first test, which focuses on Armor and Speed, is an interesting place to start, as it adds personal preference to the players’ operator pick. With Armor & Speed, you are able to change the Armor type of your operator before the round. This lets you tweak your playstyle slightly with a variance of between 70 and 150 health, depending on what option you pick. Not all operators will have access to each level of armor, however, but it will give you some room of around 20 to 30 health, depending on what option you pick.

This change would allow you to change the way certain operators play and feel. Early chatter on Rainbow Six communities looked at Gridlock. With her slow speed being a major issue for her low pick rate, this change would allow players to alter the speed. Gridlock has access to, in this instance, a smaller armor value of medium, making her faster and less noisy.

Armor traits affect operators differently, as shown below:

• Light: 70 Health – Fastest
• Tactical: 90 Health – Fast
• Medium: 110 Health – Normal
• Heavy: 130 Health – Slow
• Juggernaut: 150 Health – Slowest

Crucially, Medium is available to every operator, which means slower operators, meaning as the example above with Gridlock means you can speed up certain operators, or slow down others for more health.

It will be interesting to see how this level of player control will balance the game, and this test could offer up some very interesting and unique use cases. With the Six Invitational coming up soon, it’s a good thing these changes won’t be on the live game at least.