Rainbow Six Extraction: Game Pass, release date, review round-up and how Buddy Pass works

Here’s everything you need to know about Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction, when it’s released, how to get it on Game Pass and reviews so far
Rainbow Six Extraction: Game Pass, release date, review round-up and how Buddy Pass works (Image credit: IGDB)Rainbow Six Extraction: Game Pass, release date, review round-up and how Buddy Pass works (Image credit: IGDB)
Rainbow Six Extraction: Game Pass, release date, review round-up and how Buddy Pass works (Image credit: IGDB)

After a long wait, Ubisoft have finally released its latest installation in video game adaptations of Tom Clancy’s Cold War and conflict thrillers with the latest Rainbow Six Siege first person shooter spin-off, Rainbow Six Extraction.

The new addition to the Rainbow Six series comes seven years after Rainbow Six Siege was released as a multiplayer-focused tactical, which went on to gain a popular following despite its initial lukewarm reception.

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With Rainbow Six Extraction first teased in 2019 at E3, fans of the Rainbow Six franchise have been waiting long time for the next game after its original production as an installation aptly titled ‘Quarantine’ was suspended during the coronavirus pandemic.

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Here’s what you need to know about Rainbow Six Extraction and its reception so far as a sci-fi, stealth-based twist on Siege.

What to expect in Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction

Rainbow Six’s latest spin-off takes the familiar multiplayer and tactical elements which forged Siege’s popularity and transports them to a futuristic, science fiction world dominated by a parasite alien species known as the Archæans.

Once again, the Rainbow team, this time working as the Rainbow Exogenous Analysis and Containment Team (REACT), is required to eliminate the alien threat by taking on tasks individually or in groups of three to unlock new information and skills necessary to defeat the Archæans across different maps split into subsections.

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Players get to pick from 18 Rainbow Six characters to play called Operators in order to complete these tasks, with each Operator offering a unique skill or item to help assist on missions.

Rainbow Six Extraction release date

Rainbow Six Extraction is available to play now, having launched worldwide on Thursday January 20 2022 after launching in the UK at 11pm on Wednesday.

The latest instalment in the Tom Clancy franchise has now become available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Epic Games and Ubisoft Connect.

But it is also available to Xbox Game Pass subscribers to play for free on Xbox and PC.

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The game is one of the first big video game launches anticipated in 2022, with Total Warhammer III, Grand Turismo 7 and God of War: Ragnarok coming later this year.

How to get Rainbow Six Extraction on Game Pass and Buddy Pass

Following its release on Thursday January 20, Rainbow Six Extraction is coming to Xbox Game Pass on day one of its launch to allow approximately 25 million Game Pass subscribers access to the game for free in a try-before-you-buy set up.

What’s more, Rainbow Six Extraction is not just available on Game Pass for Xbox consoles, it’s also available on Game Pass for PC. This means, no matter where you are a Game Pass subscriber, you will be able to download Rainbow Six Extraction.

You can find out how much Game Pass subscriptions on PC cost at the link below.

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In addition to the game becoming available to Xbox and PC Game Pass subscribers, those who buy the full game copy of Extraction across different devices and consoles will be able to invite two other friends to play the game for free on any other platform for 14 days, regardless of whether they own the game.

While the ‘Buddy Pass’ feature was due to be available with the game on day one of its release, Ubisoft announced earlier this month that the feature will be delayed so as "to ensure a smooth rollout for all players."

Rainbow Six Extraction review round-up

So far, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction has received mixed reviews.

While still on day one of its release, reviews have roundly complimented the game’s sci-fi setting and blend of new and original Rainbow Six features.

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"Sometimes a video game can be thoroughly entertaining, not for any new ideas it brings to the table, but for the way in which it combines a lot of old ideas into an excitingly fresh experience,” The Guardian said in its 4/5 star review on Thursday.

"The latest shooter from Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy interactive universe is a fine example.

“This is an enthralling strategy shooter with thorough world-building, a well-balanced progression system and atmospheric locations.”

Joe Donnelly at Games Radar said: “There's an air of uncertainty about the whole set-up.

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"It all feels a bit rushed, as if Extraction is keen to distance itself from its drawn-out past, its previous ties to 'Quarantine' against the current reality, and the core themes we're otherwise used to seeing embellished in Rainbow Six games.”

Meanwhile, Jake Tucker at NME complimented the game’s visuals, writing: :”Ubisoft, again, has outdone themselves with some absolutely stunning vistas of a society in decay: whether you’re tooling around a dilapidated New York Police Department, Liberty Island, San Francisco’s Tenderloin district or even a hospital overrun by infection, these microcosms of urban living always look the part, and is something that Ubisoft always does well, but rarely gets praised for.

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