Yes you’ve heard this rumor before, but this time we think the source is rather credible. VideoGameChronicle, who has a strong track record of leaks, is reporting that Splinter Cell is in development at Ubisoft and should be announced early next year.
And yes this rumor has come and gone over years now, probably since the last real Splinter Cell released in in 2013. Blacklist is nearly 10 years old, can you believe it? We had very strong rumors the past two years that Splinter Cell was being cooked up somewhere at Ubisoft, with some extremely strong hints that the game could appear at E3 the past 3 years. Yet we got nothing. Well…. we got something, but it was a Battle Royale game nobody asked for.
Instead Ubisoft has been focusing heavily on mobile ports and VR renditions that didn’t go over too well. Beyond Ghost Recon the Tom Clancy name has been a few lackluster games, and multiplayer worlds. Fans have been literally begging for Splinter Cell to come back, and developers have expressed interest in the series, but the closest we got was a rather disappointing Facebook VR game announced last year. Apparently this Splinter Cell title is to make up for all of that and to get some more positive name branding back under their belt.
Who is working on it is what also interested me. Instead of stating Ubisoft’s own Montreal studio was working on the game, the rumor suggests that an outside source is developing it. This is similar to the rumor behind Metal Gear Solid which grows every day that states an outside studio is simply re-releasing the old games while a new title is being produced alongside it. I would imagine if Ubisoft really wants to push Splinter Cell back out then we would get a similar treatment here, re-releasing the old games followed by a new remake. But again, this is all a rumor and we have no idea, but to go head-to-head with another stealth based shooter would make a lot of sense.
Splinter Cell is a Tom Clancy series with the main character Sam Fisher being a stealth operative. Instead of running in guns blazing you have to utilize many different gadgets and mechanics to take out enemies and clear rooms without ever being seen. Not only is the gameplay very fun, but the story has evolved over so many games that we can’t wait to get more.