Rumor: Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson says Ubisoft has greenlit a new Rainbow Six: Vegas game, codenamed Spades, in early development at Ubisoft Montreal, and sources lean toward a true Vegas 3 rather than a remake. Here's what the report says, why this series means so much to Xbox players, and how long the wait could be.
Las Vegas might be getting hit by Team Rainbow one more time. Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson reported this afternoon that “Ubisoft is in early development on a new Rainbow Six: Vegas title,” a project codenamed “Spades” that Henderson says Ubisoft has greenlit after the series sat on the sidelines for nearly two decades. Ubisoft hasn’t announced anything, so treat this as a rumor for now, but it comes from one of the most reliable leakers in the business, and it’s the best news Rainbow Six fans who grew up on Xbox 360 have heard in a long time.
According to Henderson’s report, Spades is one of three new projects recently spun up at Ubisoft Montreal, the studio that made both original Vegas games. Henderson didn’t have details on the other two, but his sources say a second one is also set in the Rainbow Six universe. As for what Spades actually is, the report says it’s still unclear, though “sources have said it’s likely Vegas 3 rather than a remake.”
That last part is the detail to hold onto. A remake would be a nostalgia trip. If this is a real Vegas 3, it would mean Ubisoft believes there’s still a story and a style of shooter worth building on, and that’s a much bigger statement about where Rainbow Six goes next.
Why Vegas still hits different on Xbox
If you weren’t around for it, here’s why people care. Rainbow Six: Vegas launched on Xbox 360 on November 20, 2006, and it landed like a statement game for the young console. Xbox Wire looked back on it in 2015 and said it “garnered near-universal praise, with many calling it the best shooter on the platform.” Its cover system, where you could stack up on a door or snap to a wall and blind-fire, changed how a tactical shooter felt on a controller. The online play was huge too. In early 2007 it became the first Xbox 360 game to join the Major League Gaming pro circuit.
Ubisoft Montreal turned the sequel around fast. Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 arrived in March 2008, added smarter AI and a persistent upgrade system for your custom operator, Bishop, and then the series just stopped. Ubisoft poured its Rainbow Six energy into other projects, and eventually into Siege, which has been running for more than a decade. Henderson notes Ubisoft has worked on over a dozen Rainbow Six projects since Vegas 2, yet Vegas itself never came back.
Here’s something most people will miss: Ubisoft has been warming up the Vegas name for a while. Bishop, the Vegas 2 hero, came back to Rainbow Six Siege with Year 11 in February, as Insider Gaming covered at the time, a fan-favorite character not seen in almost 20 years. Bringing back the face of Vegas inside Siege, then reportedly greenlighting a new Vegas game at the same studio, does not look like a coincidence to us. It looks like Ubisoft testing how much love is still out there for the brand. Judging by how fast this report is moving, the answer is a lot.
And the good news for Xbox players is that you don’t have to wait to get back to the Strip. Both Rainbow Six: Vegas and Vegas 2 are playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S through backward compatibility, and the original is still listed on the Xbox Store. Official online services for both games were shut down in 2021, but the campaigns and offline modes are still there. If you never played them, this is a perfect time.
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The business side, and the wait
The timing lines up with a bigger shake-up at Ubisoft. Henderson points out the news comes a year after Ubisoft formed Vantage Studios, a new subsidiary that runs its biggest franchises, Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, with Tencent owning a 26.32% stake. Last week, rumors surfaced that two new Assassin’s Creed games are in development, which Insider Gaming says it could corroborate. Put it together and Vantage looks like it’s leaning hard on proven names. Honestly, that’s the smart play. Vegas is a name people still talk about, and a modern tactical campaign with real co-op and a strong multiplayer suite would stand out in a shooter market that’s mostly live service.
The catch is patience. Henderson describes Spades as being in early development and warns “we’re likely several years away from Ubisoft officially announcing a new Vegas title.” The first Vegas got a sequel in about a year and a half. Games don’t move that fast anymore, so nobody should expect a reveal at The Game Awards next month.
No platforms have been announced either, but Rainbow Six has been a fixture on Xbox and PC for decades, and the Vegas games were born on Xbox 360. We’d be shocked if a new Vegas skipped the platform where the series made its name. For now, Ubisoft hasn’t commented, and everything about Spades is unconfirmed until it does.
Image: OnPoint 4 Gamers
Sources
- Insider Gaming (Tom Henderson): EXCLUSIVE: Rainbow Six: Vegas Series Set to Return After Nearly Two Decades
- Tom Henderson on X: Rainbow Six: Vegas report
- Xbox Wire: Doubling Down with Rainbow Six: Vegas (2015)
- Xbox Store: Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas
- Wikipedia: Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas
- Wikipedia: Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
- Insider Gaming: Bishop is Returning to Rainbow Six with Year 11 of Siege (Feb 15, 2026)
