Ubisoft reveals the details of the R6 EML Challenger Circuit 2026

Ubisoft He revealed everything that is coming in 2026 Rainbow Six Siege (R6) Europe and MENA League (EML) Challenger regionoffering a €75,000 (~$87,000/£65,460) prize pool.

Up-and-coming esports players will compete in all official tournaments with partners to earn circuit points, which are needed to reach the advanced stages of the Challenger Finals and have a chance to earn promotion to the Regional League.

According to the blog post, Saudi League teams will be allowed to play in the EML Challenger round this year to earn points.

Similar to 2025, there will be three main tournaments in the 2026 R6 EML Challenger League, each offering €20,000 (~$23,200/£17,450) per win. These include R6 The North Rainbow Rumble, Central Combineagain The Breaking of the South.

The first tournament, the R6 North Rainbow Rumble, will run from March 18 to May 3. There will be three open qualifiers that will take place from March 18 to 19, March 25 to 26, and April 1 to 2. R6 teams will earn points based on their finish in each qualifying round, with the top 12 teams with the highest points advancing to the grand final.

The 12 qualified teams will then be divided into two groups of six and will compete in a round-robin format from April 11 to 26. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Playoffs, which will be played over two rounds from May 1 to 3.

All matches will be played over three, except for the Grand Final, which will be best of five.

The R6 North Rainbow Rumble champion will receive €10,000 (~$11,600/£8,720), and 120 circuit points. All matches will be streamed on the official R6 Twitch channel.

The Central Combine will be held later from June to July, while the South Breach is the last major tournament, which runs from September to November.

In addition, the Saudi Esports Federation will host a dedicated tournament later this year, open to all EU and MENA teams, giving its winner the final spot in the Challenger Finals 2027.

Ubisoft also revealed that partner tournaments run by third-party organizers will be integrated into the EML Challenger Circuit, awarding round-robin points to participating teams.

Applications for the affiliate tournament are currently open, where successful applicants will receive additional support from Ubisoft. It is important to note that events must take place between March and October, be held on PC, and comply with the secondary circuit rulebook.

There are currently two co-tournaments confirmed to be part of the 2026 cycle: Gamescom LAN again Players Meeting.

Gamescom is a three-day gaming convention that includes competitive tournaments, casual games, trading card games, and more. Gamescom LAN will take place from March 20 to 22, in Cologne, Germany, offering a prize pool of €3,000.

The Gamers Assembly is an annual LAN gaming party that hosts the R6 tournament in Poitiers, France. The tournament is scheduled for April 4 and 5, with 40 teams competing for a prize pool of €5,400.