Rainbow Six Siege closed alpha on the way and exclusive to PC

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A Rainbow Six Siege closed alpha is coming, and while Ubisoft hasn't yet announced a start date, it has released some details about what you'll need to do if you want to get in. The short version is this: Live in North America or Europe, speak English, have a Uplay account, and own a PC.

Applications for the closed alpha may be placed at rainbow6.ubi.com. Those who are admitted to the club will receive notification via email with further instructions, and Ubisoft warned that there will be no other method of access, nor will applicants ever be asked to input a game key—beware of scams, in other words. The alpha will be PC-only—"PC is the lead development platform and we feel that it's natural to start by testing the game on this platform," the FAQ states—and you'll need this much of one to play:

OS: Windows 7, 8, 8.1, x64
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K or AMD FX-8120 Eight-Core
CPU Speed: 3.3 GHz (Recommended), 2.6 GHz (Minimum)
RAM: 8 GB
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 670 or AMD Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280 X
VRAM: 2 GB
Internet: 512Kbps down/256Kbps up

Those specs, by the way, are strictly for the alpha according to Ubisoft.

Rainbow Six Siege strikes me as kind of silly—busting into somebody's house and then turning it into a fortress and waiting for the cops to show up has to be the worst kidnapping plan ever—but setting that aspect of it aside, it looks like it could be a lot of fun. Evan Lahti wrote that his hands-on preview at E3 2014 "sold me on Siege's potential as a competitive multiplayer FPS," and predicted that it will attract a large audience among PC gamers.

Details about the closed beta, including how long it will last, what content will be available, and when it will begin, will be announced at a later date.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.