As early as 2018, there’s been grumblings from Ubisoft and rumors/leakers about a certain stealth series making a grand return. 2013 was the last time a mainline Splinter Cell game was released, generating a seven-year-old rift in Ubisoft’s lineup. While Splinter Cell: Blacklist was the last time Sam Fisher had his own respective storyline, Fisher has still managed to show up in several of Ubisoft’s adjacent Tom Clancy franchises. However, it’s very possible this was done on purpose, in service to gauging the Splinter Cell audience.
Recently, during the latest Ubisoft Forward presentation, the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake was announced. Similar to Splinter Cell, the Prince of Persia series has lie dormant for a while, but the difference between them is that Prince of Persia had a cohesive ending. Granted Splinter Cell was never really meant to have a cohesive arc, but Double Agent and Conviction seemed to be leading to an ending for Sam Fisher’s story. Now, instead of installing a new protagonist for Splinter Cell, it’d make more sense for the series to return with a reboot/remake.
Sam Fisher post-Conviction has been farmed out by Ubisoft throughout the major Tom Clancy properties. While that may sound harsh, this has been a point of contention for fans in the several years since Splinter Cell: Blacklist. As the wait for a new mainline Splinter Cell game began, slowly but surely, Sam Fisher started popping up in other video games besides Splinter Cell. Generally this would be a tactic to drum up hype for a protagonist getting their own game soon, like the Fire Emblem character in Smash. However, Sam Fisher has had a cameo in almost four different Ubisoft franchises without his own respective game.
Since 2013, the original Splinter Cell protagonist has shown up in several Tom Clancy games: Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, Rainbow Six Siege, and the controversial Elite Squad. Sam Fisher even has a cameo in Far Cry New Dawn, which in and of itself is a spin-off from a main Far Cry game. Although, each cameo has either featured the iconic trifocal night-vision goggles or an older Sam Fisher himself. There could be a reason as to why every cameo has featured a much older Sam Fisher instead of just the character.
Ubisoft is definitely working on a new Splinter Cell title, but it could potentially be a remake. That much is certainly hinted at by a Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake, a similarly dormant franchise. Prince of Persia even had a cohesive ending to its series, with Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones ending the trilogy way back in 2005. Splinter Cell seemed like it was on that trajectory with Splinter Cell: Conviction, but then Blacklist came out and completely ignored the events of the last game. Then, as Splinter Cell seemed like it was headed for a completely new direction, the franchise went dormant for several years without a peep.
That’s part of the reason why a remake and/or reboot for Splinter Cell makes a lot of sense now. The franchise has been dormant for about as long as Prince of Persia had been before the remake was announced. Knowing that Ubisoft is potentially very interested in remakes, remaking the first or several of the original Splinter Cell games seems like a perfect opportunity to bring the franchise back to the mainstream. Whether that’s with Sam Fisher (and his famous voice actor Michael Ironside) remains to be seen, but given how every cameo of Fisher has included old Fisher, a new revamped Splinter Cell could be on the way.
Not to mention the first Splinter Cell game is ripe for a remake. The game released all the way back in 2002, and was formative for the rest of the series up until Conviction. All of the stealth-focused gameplay, without some of the action game influences that came in later games, made Splinter Cell what it used to be. Fans of the franchise’s golden days like Chaos Theory have been waiting patiently for another true-to-spirit Splinter Cell game for years. Splinter Cell: Blacklist from 2013 certainly got close, but it wasn’t enough of a return to the traditional gameplay from the series’ past.
Jumping back to the franchise’s roots with a remake would be the better decision, especially given the encouraging sign from the Prince of Persia remake. It’s not a direct confirmation, but considering the original voice actor has returned with numerous cameos in Ghost Recon, that could be in service to Michael Ironside reprising his role of Sam Fisher in a remake as well. Ubisoft has been relatively open about a new Splinter Cell project in the works since 2018, albeit very little is known about the title. This may have been why, as the Splinter Cell series could be getting a fresh start in the next console generation.
A Splinter Cell project is rumored to be in development.
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