Ubisoft’s ongoing Splinter Cell revival is gathering momentum. After some teasing, the developer has confirmed that series hero Sam Fisher will be a playable character in the third season of Rainbow Six: Siege, Operation Shadow Legacy. True to his clandestine roots, he’ll pack a suppressed pistol and a “two-way drill camera” that will let you see both sides of a wall and even destroy gadgets. You’ll also have Fisher’s signature SC-3000K assault rifle or an MP7 to fight back when things get rough.

Shadow Legacy will also bring some improvements to the game itself, including a new contextual ping system, reworked EMP grenades, match replays and web-based stat tracking. You can also expect a refreshed Chalet map with new paths.

It’s no secret that some games are designed to riff on others’ ideas, but Ubisoft believes one title is far too similar to let it go unchecked. Bloomberg reports that the publisher has sued Apple and Google for selling Area F2, a game it claims is a “near carbon copy” of Rainbow Six: Siege meant to “piggyback” on Ubisoft’s success. The mobile title from Alibaba’s Ejoy and Qookka Games allegedly borrows “virtually every aspect” of Ubisoft’s character-driven team shooter, right down to the interface layout. Drones, destructible walls and rappelling down walls are also staples of both games.

Ubisoft said it had alerted Apple and Google to the reported copyright violations, but that both had so far declined to pull Area F2 from their respective app stores.

Much like other games, Siege‘s full-fledged Battle Pass will be divided into free and paid tracks. You can earn items by completing goals in either track, but you can safely presume that the most desirable goodies will only be available in the paid tier. Either pass will shed more light on Rainbow director Dr. Harishva “Harry” Pandey, who’ll serve as a narrator explaining the origins of Rainbow Six’s various operators.

The third season, Operation Ember Rise, introduces both a reworked Kanal map (with new paths and stairs to improve navigation) as well as two new operators. The Peruvian attacker Amaru (above) sports a Garra grappling hook that helps her infiltrate windows “in record time,” while the Mexican defender Goyo will brandish a Volcan Shield that both blocks pathways and packs an incendiary bomb.

The test server for Ember Rise switches on August 19th. It’ll take a while after that before the season is broadly available.

It’s unsurprising that Ubisoft would go the pass route. This provides a steady stream of money from players determined to have the latest gear, and gives players an incentive to play regularly when they might otherwise take a break. Whether or not gamers leap on the concept is another story. Siege has remained popular even in the face of heated competition, but there’s no guarantee that a formula borrowed from battle royale titles will translate well here.