Remember Sam Fisher, Third Echelon, and all that spy-and-stealth adventure jazz? Well, according to Video Games Chronicle, apparently Ubisoft is planning to revive the franchise once more. Anonymous sources speaking to the publication said that the 2022 Splinter Cell title has been “greenlit” by the company as a means of “winning back fans” frustrated by the series’ recent entry into mobile and VR platforms. It’s still not clear which of Ubisoft’s studios are working on the new Splinter Cell game but two sources familiar with the plan suggested that the project is not being led by the main Ubisoft Montreal studio and might be officially announced sometime next year.
The French video game company has recently come under criticism for allegations of discrimination and sexual harassment. And early this year, Ubisoft CFO Frederick Duguet stated that the company will put more focus on mobile and freemium games. Last year in 2020, Ubisoft announced a new Splinter Cell game for Facebook’s Oculus VR and CEO Yves Guillemot noted that the series needs to adapt to the current market first before it could make a reappearance. Resurrecting a fan-favorite property like this one could be one of the company’s measures to repair its currently shaky reputation, both from the inside and outside.
Starring NSA black-ops agent Sam Fisher, the series debuted with Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell in November 2002 as an Xbox exclusive. The following year it was ported to PC, PS2, and Gamecube. The last entry to the series was 2013’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist. However, Sam himself has starred in several other Tom Clancy-related titles including Ghost Recon: Wildlands and Rainbow Six Siege (seen above) to a mixed reception from fans.
