Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, also known as Rainbow Six or R6, is a tactical shooter video game series created by Red Storm Entertainment and Ubisoft. It is part of the Tom Clancy's brand, which features military-themed games. The game is based on a novel by American author Tom Clancy called Rainbow Six. It follows the actions of a fictional international counterterrorist group named "Rainbow." The series began in 1998. As of 2024, there are 13 main games in the series, along with 6 expansion packs from earlier versions. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six is one of the most popular and influential tactical shooter series. The early games in the series helped make the tactical shooter genre more widely known. Since the mid-2010s, a large esports community has developed around newer Rainbow Six games. By 2016, more than 32 million copies of the games had been sold.

Setting

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six is a story about a secret international anti-terrorism group called "Rainbow" (or "Team Rainbow"). The series takes place in the same fictional world as Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon.

Rainbow was created in 1999 by military, police, and intelligence groups from around the world to stop the increase in terrorism after the Cold War. It is a fast-response team made up of highly trained experts from different countries, including soldiers, police, intelligence officers, and specialists. These members are prepared to handle terrorist attacks, kidnappings, bombings, and raids that local authorities cannot manage quickly or effectively. Rainbow is based in Hereford, England, at a location called Stirling Lines, but it can operate anywhere in the world, including places like the Pentagon, if needed.

Because Rainbow works on sensitive missions, such as dealing with weapons of mass destruction or international threats, it keeps its activities secret. Only the highest-ranking government, military, and intelligence leaders know about Rainbow. After missions, steps are taken to hide its involvement, such as making operators appear as local police or soldiers or hiding details that might worry the public.

The leader of Rainbow is called "Rainbow Six" (or "Six"), named after the military rank for captain. The first leader was John Clark, a former U.S. Navy SEAL and CIA officer, who led the group until he retired. Since then, other leaders have taken the role, with Harry Pandey being the most recent.

While the Rainbow Six series is based on real-world events and rules, newer stories sometimes change the group's usual setup. These changes include Rainbow hosting a public competition, working with independent operators like the private military company "Nighthaven," and fighting against alien invaders.

Video games

The first game was created by Red Storm Entertainment at the same time the novel was being written. In 2000, Red Storm was bought by Ubisoft, which has managed the series since that time.

Games shown in bold are the main ones in the series.