As Summer Games Fest sputtered to a close this week, Splinter Cell fans were left feeling a bit duped. After publisher Ubisoft randomly tweeted a picture of series protagonist Sam Fisher just days before the annual festivities kicked off, many were sure (us included) that we’d finally get an update on the long-gestating remake of the 2002 original.
But at showcases from Xbox, PlayStation, and Geoff Keighley himself, Splinter Cell was nowhere to be seen. Not a trailer. Not an offhand reference during another announcement. Not even a follow-up tweet from Ubisoft’s official channels. So what exactly happened?
Unfortunately, Ubisoft gave us an official “no comment” when we reached out to ask about the cryptic tweet. However, as recently as this year, we know that Ubisoft Toronto (Watch Dogs: Legion, Far Cry 6) was openly recruiting for the game on its website, so it’s safe to say the game isn’t cancelled. And the alt text for the tweeted image (it reads the Sam is “locked in” in the image) is too cheeky to suggest something isn’t in the works. There’s even a Splinter Cell Netflix series set to debut later this year. 2025 seems like as good a year as ever to reintroduce the series to new players.
Still, it’s strange that there’s been no news about a game first announced in December 2021. Developers at Ubisoft Toronto spoke at length about how the team was updating the 23-year-old stealth action game for new audiences. They confirmed that it would retain the mission structure of the original, ditching the open world formula Ubisoft seems very much dedicated to at the moment. They also revealed that the game’s story would be updated to better fit today’s political landscape (after all, the first game took place in 2002).
So what could be keeping it? It could be a matter of heavy changes to the original. If they’re going to be altering the way Sam moves throughout the environment at all, levels will need to be redesigned to compensate for it. As noted in our wishlist for the remake, a new Splinter Cell will need to be as stunning as the series past entries. Ensuring this game is as polished as it needs to be could take time. And if there’s any additional content being added to the final package, such as multiplayer, then maybe Ubisoft Toronto will need more than the three and a half years its been since they game’s initial reveal.
Whatever’s taking so long, the fans are certainly feeling the squeeze. It’s been over 12 years since the last game Splinter Cell: Blacklist. And a look at the Splinter Cell subreddit paints a pretty dour picture of a fanbase looking for answers.
“How many times are we going to go through this?” one user posted referencing the May 30 tweet. “The game only had nine levels, one which is a repeat. There should've been something shown by now.”
“So what was the point of that Ubisoft tweet of Sam?” another posted. “Was it legitimately just a random post with no significance to it whatsoever?”
It’s hard to blame these eager fans. Since E3 2018 there have been persistent rumblings and rumors of a new game, leaving folks holding their breath hoping for something new. There was a VR game in development, but it was cancelled in 2022. When the announcement of a remake finally dropped, it marked to only hope that the series would continue at all.
Splinter Cell’s special brand of stealth game is sorely missed int he modern landscape. While the Metal Gear Solid series can easily vasilate between stealth gameplay and action heavy sequences where you fight ridiculously awesome bosses, Splinter Cell was solely about skulking around in the shadows. While there are some great stealth games still around (special shout out to Styx: Master Of Shadows and Shadow Tactics: Blades), there aren’t a lot of big expensive games being made in the genre aside from the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 3 remake. If you ask me, there’s more than enough room for Splinter Cell to push the genre forward.
It was a weird week for Ubisoft as a whole during Summer Games Fest. Aside from Rainbow Six Siege’s and The Division 2’s substantial updates, the latter of which is already out, they didn’t have anything to show. There wasn’t even an update for things like the upcoming expansion for Assassin’s Creed Shadows despite being out at the end of the summer. I guess we’ll have to wait until later this year to see what they may have in store for 2025.
