Ubisoft’s Splinter Cell franchise is about to make a return but not with an entirely new game. Rather, the studio has announced a remake of 2002’s original Splinter Cell that won’t simply be a remaster, but a new gaming experience that is being built “from the ground up” for current generation gaming.
Ubisoft made the announcement in a newly released video which discusses the first game’s development and legacy as well as how the developers are looking to update the gameplay in the remake. Ubisoft Toronto will be the main development studio after having recently worked on Far Cry 6 and Watch Dogs Legion. This will not be Ubisoft Toronto’s first foray into the Splinter Cell franchise as they developed the last game in the series, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, in 2013.
The Splinter Cell franchise spun out of the Tom Clancy-led titles like Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon. Whereas those games focused on tactical action, Splinter Cell was much more methodical in special operations with players having to rely more on stealth than gunfights. The series followed special operative Sam Fisher, voiced by Michael Ironside, who worked for the NSA’s secret Third Echelon branch as they battled threats internationally and within their own government. It has a total of six games in the franchise with a VR game in development.
Ubisoft’s Chris Auty (Crysis) will be the remake’s creative director, Patrick Ingoldsby (Watch Dogs: Legion) will be the art director and Matt West (Splinter Cell: Blacklist) will produce the game using Ubisoft’s Snowdrop game engine. With the announcement explaining the franchise’s appeal and what the team is looking to honour and update with no gameplay footage shown, it seems Splinter Cell is in the very early stages of development and will not be released for quite some time.
“To me, a remake takes what you’d do in a remaster and goes a little bit further with it,” West said. “The original Splinter Cell has a lot that was amazing and revolutionary at the time it came out, 19 years ago. The gaming public now has an even more refined palate. So, I think it kind of has to be a remake as opposed to a remaster. Although we’re still in the very earliest stages of development, what we’re trying to do is make sure the spirit of the early games remains intact, in all of the ways that gave early Splinter Cell its identity. So, as we’re building it from the ground up, we’re going to update it visually, as well as some of the design elements to match player comfort and expectations, and we are going to keep it linear like the original games, not make it open world. How do we make sure that new fans are able to pick up the controller and dive right in, and fall in love with the game and the world right from the get-go?”
A Splinter Cell film has been in development hell for several years now. Tom Hardy (Venom: Let There Be Carnage) has been attached to star as Sam Fisher for years, but the last update on the film’s production was in early 2017 with nothing having come since them. Meanwhile, Netflix is developing an anime Splinter Cell series that has already been given a two season order consisting of eight episodes each. The anime comes from John Wick creator Derek Kolstad, who earlier this year said the anime is still a year-and-a-half to two years away.
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