Given that it’s been over half a decade since we last saw a Splinter Cell game, fans of Sam Fisher and his sneaky ways are getting more than a little bit twitchy as they await news of the next installment.
Fisher most recently appeared in Ghost Recon: Wildlands, which was a very neat touch, but it’s hardly the new game people were asking for. In a new interview Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has revealed exactly what the holdup has been.
Speaking to IGN, Guillemot put it pretty simply; the company don’t want to bring Splinter Cell back unless they have a truly original idea. He also said that a number of Ubisoft’s development teams are too anxious to work on the franchise, given the immense expectations from fans.
Finally, he explained that given the success of franchises like Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed, the company felt its resources would be better spent putting out games that it knows is going to pull in the big bucks. Makes sense.
Guillemot said:
When you create a game, you have to make sure you will come with something that will be different enough from what you did before. Last time we did a Splinter Cell, we had lots of pressure from all the fans saying, ‘Don’t change it; don’t do this; don’t do that.’ So some of the teams were more anxious to work on the brand. Also because of Assassin’s Creed and all the other brands taking off, people wanted to work on those brands more. so we have to follow what they like to do.
It doesn’t sound like all hope is lost however, as Guillemot did say that there are certain teams who are currently “looking at” and “taking care of” the brand. He concluded; “at one point you will see something, but I can’t say more than that.”
There’s a chance Ubisoft could surprise everyone with a new Splinter Cell reveal during the company’s E3 show, of course, but Guillemot’s comments suggest a new entry is a little longer off than that.
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.