'Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege' release date update: closed alpha program launched

The announcement for the return of Ubisoft's popular "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six" series had fans of the tactical shooter title pretty excited, although there are no official details yet about the game's release. Development of the game is still on-going, and game developer Ubisoft wants players to take part in the game's progress. 

Ubisoft has announced that fans of "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six" can experience the new "Siege" title during its closed alpha testing period. 

To take a stab at an early access to the game, players must sign up at rainbow6.ubi.com. Players must also have a Uplay account to do so. The closed alpha testing period will be for multiplayer game modes only, and will be limited to PC gamers in North America and Europe. 

For the minimum requirements for the closed alpha testing "Rainbow Six Siege," the PC should have at least Windows 7 for the operating system, an Intel Core i5 clocked at 2.6 GHz, at least 8 GB of RAM, an Nvidia GeForce GTX670 or AMD Radeon HD 7970/R29 280 X graphics card, and a VRAM of at least 2 GB. Ubisoft points out through their FAQs that these requirements would just be for the closed alpha testing and do not represent the finished game's minimum PC specs. 

"Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege" was announced during the E3 convention last year, being touted as a stand-in to Ubisoft's cancelled game, "Rainbow Six Patriots." Still with the same gameplay as with other "Rainbow Six" games, "Siege" will have the same style of tactical cooperative shooting to complete missions. However, one of the highlights of the new title's gameplay is the destructible environment, allowing gamers to shoot and blow up walls or floors to make their own passage in completing the missions. 

The target date for release of "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege" is sometime this year, for the Playstation 4, Xbox One, and Windows PC. 

News
Violence and persecution driving global Christian exodus, report warns
Violence and persecution driving global Christian exodus, report warns

Aid to the Church in Need, which produced the report, called the oppression of Christians "a human rights catastrophe the world refuses to acknowledge".

More than 60 killed in attacks on Ethiopian Christians, Orthodox Church says
More than 60 killed in attacks on Ethiopian Christians, Orthodox Church says

Children were reportedly among the dead as families fled violence in Oromia.

Church mentioned in St Jerome's letters may have been discovered
Church mentioned in St Jerome's letters may have been discovered

Archaeologists in northern Italy have identified the likely site of an early Christian church that St. Jerome described in a letter in A.D. 396, along with a nearby building believed to have been the bishop’s palace in the ancient city of Altino.

Jordan carries out retaliatory strikes in Syria after deadly church attack
Jordan carries out retaliatory strikes in Syria after deadly church attack

Patriarch Theophilos III has visited survivors of the attack in hospital.