Rumors about a new Splinter Cell appeared on the Web back in 2016 and continued to acquire details until the end of last year. Shortly before E3 2018, the spy action was noticed on the websites of Amazon and Walmart retail chains, but, contrary to expectations, the announcement did not take place. However, one of the most famous series in the genre is not abandoned: Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot recently confirmed that the company has plans for it.
Guillemot hinted at a new Splinter Cell during episode 41 of the IGN Unfiltered podcast. Asked by journalist Ryan McCaffrey why the series has been dormant for so long (16:47), Guillemot responded: "When you make a game, it's important to make sure you get something good different from what you've done before." After the release of the latest installment, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, fans began to ask Ubisoft not to change certain elements of the series, and the developers "worried" about what the next game should be.
Guillemot assured that Splinter Cell "has someone to take care of." “One day you will see [a new project related to the series], but for now I can’t say anything about it,” he explained, noting that Ubisoft is currently focused on other franchises, including Assassin's Creed.
The leader also talked about the significance of the series in the development of Ubisoft and the difficulties that arose during the work on it. He called the original game in 2002 risky: it was originally released only on the Xbox, and reached the PlayStation 2 only a few months later. According to him, the company decided to take this step because it was attracted by the power of the new console.
In the same conversation (starting at 9:57), Guillemot broached the topic of Beyond Good & Evil 2. He revealed that he met with project development lead Michel Ancel last week to discuss the right direction, hinting that it may change. He called the universe of the series "amazing", and the sequel, in his opinion, will turn out beyond praise.
The fact that Ubisoft has not forgotten about Splinter Cell, the head of the company spoke in mid-2017. At the same time, the CEO of Ubisoft Montreal, Yannis Mallat, noted that the authors are “always open to creative suggestions,” but stressed that the main question is whether there is a market for the project. The game has been in development (or in preparation for it) for so long that it is no longer possible to say whether the rumors that have appeared in recent years are still relevant. This also applies to information published by a user of the NeoGAF forum in 2016: he reported that the role of Sam Fisher in the next part will be played again by Michael Ironside, whose absence from Splinter Cell: Blacklist saddened fans. His return is also indicated by the fact that last year Ubisoft added Fisher to Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands, voiced by a fan-favorite actor.
Either way, Jade Raymond, the founder of Ubisoft Toronto, who created Splinter Cell: Blacklist, is unlikely to be involved in the development: she recently joined Google as the head of the studio responsible for exclusive games for the Google Stadia platform.
Source: 3dnews.ru