Splinter Cell: Blacklist was the perfect blend of the old style of Splinter Cell gameplay, and the divisive modernized take on skulking in the shadows as special NSA agent Sam Fisher. Despite how great it was, though, players hadn’t heard a peep from the franchise since. But virtually out of nowhere, Ubisoft has published a surprise update for the nearly 12-year-old game, showing that it hasn’t forgotten about gaming’s favorite sneaky spy.
This week, the Steam version of Splinter Cell: Blacklist received an update, adding achievements to the game. All of the achievements are based on the same milestones that would earn players credit in the game’s Xbox 360 and Ubisoft Connect versions. Ubisoft wisely left out 19 achievements that could only be earned in the game’s online multiplayer, as its servers were shut down in 2023.
Best of all, players won’t even have to replay the game to earn their achievements.
“Achievements will be retroactively earned for the accomplishments already completed in your game,” reads a new post from the game’s Steam page. “For the sync to happen, you need to launch the game once. Once synced, the previously unlocked Ubisoft Connect achievements will be automatically unlocked on Steam.”
If you’re someone still obsessed with nabbing achievements in the year of our lord 2025, it's worth knowing that Splinter Cell: Blacklist is also an all-time high point for the series and is available for under $8 on Steam right now.
Steam achievements aren’t typically something to be excited about. Last fall, following the middling launch of Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft decided to cut its commitment to launching exclusively on the Epic Games Store and its own launcher, and has been steadily bringing the back catalog to Steam. Last December, for example, it added Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag to Steam 11 years after launch. In February, the open-world game Watch Dogs 2 was suddenly added to Steam. And of course, Assassin’s Creed Shadows launched in March on Valve’s popular PC gaming client alongside all other versions of the game.
What makes this recent update to Blacklist so intriguing is the fact that it's been four years since it’s Ubisoft announced a remake of the original Splinter Cell on its YouTube channel. The most recent Assassin’s Creed game incorporated iconic Splinter Cell mechanics, like snuffing out light sources to stay in the shadows.
Ubisoft is known to share features, technologies, and game mechanics across its releases, and that particular feature being added to Assassin’s Creed for the first time felt like playable proof that that remake is coming sooner than later. With the 20th anniversary of Splinter Cell’s most beloved entry just behind us, and a Netflix anime adaptation starring Liev Schreiber coming in the Fall, now’s as good a time as ever for an update on that remake.
Splinter Cell wasn’t the only Ubisoft classic to get a surprise update this week. Over on the PlayStation 5, 2014’s Far Cry 4 got an update that lifts the 30 frames per second cap and lets the first-person shooter run at a buttery smooth 60 frames per second. The publisher has been great about improving its library of classics, adding in the same update Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, Ghost Recon Breakpoint, and The Division 2.
The last we heard from the Splinter Cell remake was in 2022. At the time, the game’s creative director told IGN that the game would keep the core of the original’s story, but would update certain elements such as enemy patrol AI, how audio simulation works, and of course, the game’s graphics. Considering it's been 23 years since the original Splinter Cell, any and all improvements would go a long way in revitalizing Ubisoft’s most underrated franchise.
