A new Splinter Cell game was reportedly canceled by Ubisoft for a reason that’s hard to believe. At this moment, a remake of the original Splinter Cell is in the works at Ubisoft and is expected to release at an undetermined date in the future. When it comes to a wholly new entry in the franchise, though, that hasn’t been seen in over 10 years since 2013’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist. Now, it’s known that Ubisoft at one point was planning a follow-up to Blacklist, but it was reworked to become a new game that ultimately failed.
Videos by ComicBook.com
In a new report from Bloomberg, it was said that studio Ubisoft San Francisco was working on a brand-new Splinter Cell title in 2017. After working on the project for months, those in charge at Ubisoft are said to have “lost interest” in the game. Instead, Ubisoft leadership became more focused on developing a live-service game that could be monetized for multiple years. This led to the Splinter Cell project being scrapped and greatly reworked.
Eventually, this Splinter Cell game is said to have evolved into what became XDefiant. Released by Ubisoft in 2024, XDefiant was a free-to-play multiplayer shooter that was meant to be akin to the Call of Duty series. Unfortunately, XDefiant bombed for Ubisoft, which resulted in the game being shut down a little over one year after it released due to low player counts.
In short, because Ubisoft so badly wanted a games-as-a-service title within its portfolio, it was willing to scrap what could have been a promising Splinter Cell game. This decision, while perhaps a logical one in the moment, is all the more painful considering that XDefiant was the final product as a result of this choice. Even if a new Splinter Cell game hadn’t raked in millions upon millions of dollars for Ubisoft, it would’ve at least satiated the desire from fans to see a new installment in the series come about. Now, we’re simply left waiting in the hopes that Sam Fisher will return in a new adventure down the road.
As mentioned, the Splinter Cell remake is still in development at Ubisoft Toronto. An update on the remake hasn’t been provided in quite some time, but given that it was announced almost four years ago, it would make sense to see something new from the project relatively soon.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of Focus Features.
