Game publisher Ubisoft has announced the format for its upcoming and anticipated Rainbow Six Siege event, RE:LO:AD 2025.
Taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from May 8th to 18th, R6 Esports’ 20 partner teams will compete for a share of €480,000 (~£401,212) in prize money. This will also be the first time that Siege X is used in professional play.
The format is centred around a new ‘Bullet’ system, a strategic resource that can influence a team’s ranking, standing and survival. Moreover, unique cards can impact the outcome of matches and teams’ chances to advance to the playoffs.
Rainbow Six RE:L0:AD 2025 Format Explained
The competition is divided into two stages: groups and playoffs. In the first phase, each of the 20 teams is given six Bullets in its Bullet Reserve. The number of Bullets is key as it determines a team’s standing on the leaderboard.
The Group Stage will consist of five rounds of best-of-one matches. Each team can decide its opponent via direct challenges, except in round one, which is determined by a random draw. Teams cannot pick the same opponent more than once
When a team challenges an opponent, both teams can decide how many bullets to “reload” (limited by the enemy’s reserve). The winning team will have its bullets added back to the reserve and gain a bullet for the number of round differences for every in-game round won, while the losing team will deduct them. According to the rules, a team can commit more Bullets than it has, but a loss would result in direct elimination.
In other words, each round will be meaningful for survival, but it will also depend on the number of Bullets committed, making certain matches more impactful than others. For the first two rounds, each team cannot Reload more than two Bullets; in the following three, the maximum is raised to eight.
At the end of the group stage, the four teams with the highest number of Bullets in Rounds 4 and 5 will directly qualify for Playoffs, with eight teams advancing to the next phase. The bottom four, instead, will be directly eliminated unless they utilise a ‘Duel’ card to survive.
After the Group Stage, the top eight teams from the Group Stage move to a single-elimination bracket. Quarterfinals and semifinals: will have best-of-three series, while the final match will be best-of-five.
Special Cards Explained
The card system is an additional strategic tool introduced by Ubisoft to influence the outcome of matches. There are three cards triggered automatically upon certain conditions:
- Survivor Card: If a Team starts a round with just 1 Bullet and wins, they gain an extra Bullet. This card can be used an unlimited number of times.
- Flawless Victory Card: Winning a match with a perfect 7-0 scoreline rewards the team with two extra Bullets. This card can be used an unlimited number of times.
- Eliminator Card: Eliminating an opponent via a match (or duel) gives the winning team an extra Bullet. This Card activates automatically, can be used an unlimited number of times, and applies in any round.
And three single-use cards:
- Chicken Card: Allows a team to refuse a direct challenge, forcing the challenger to select another opponent. It can only be used once, during Rounds 2, 3, or 4.
- Extended Mag Card: This card can be played before a match to boost the number of Bullets a winning team retrieve, adding an extra 6 Bullets on top of their normal recovery. It must be activated before the match starts and can be used once between Rounds 3, 4, or 5.
- Duel Card: If a team is facing elimination, they can invoke this card to initiate a 1v1 duel. If the team that invoked the Duel Card wins: Their Bullet Reserve is reset to 0.
Teams
The participating teams are the 20 partner teams from the R6 Share programme, which was introduced to offer esports organisations more opportunities to earn additional revenue through the creation and sale of in-game items.
Therefore, the teams taking part at RE:L0:AD are as follows:
- CAG Osaka
- Cloud9
- DarkZero Esports
- Elevate
- FearX
- Fnatic
- FaZe Clan
- Fluxo
- FURIA Esports
- G2 Esports
- M80
- PSG Talon
- SCARZ
- Spacestation Gaming
- Team Falcons
- Team BDS
- Team Secret
- Team Liquid
- Wildcard
- w7m esports
Schedule
The group stage will take place each day from May 10th to May 14th, with the playoff matches starting on May 16. The final match will be played on May 18th. The entire event will take place at the Carioca Arena 1 in Rio De Janeiro. More details on the exact starting times will be revealed at a later date.
