Though Ubisoft has been on a successful roll lately with both Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Tom Clancy’s The Division 2, that hasn’t stopped fans of the iconic Sam Fisher from wondering just where the heck a new Splinter Cell game is. With the Splinter Cell cameo in Ghost Recon Wildlands earlier last year, fans were convinced an announcement was on the horizon – though that speculation has yet to see fruition. Now Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot is opening up on what the hold up is.
In a recent interview with IGN, Guillemot cites both the demanding Assassin’s Creed and the pressure to do the franchise justice for the delay. “When you create a game, you have to make sure you come with something that will be different enough from what you did before. The last time we did a Splinter Cell, we had lots of pressure from all the fans actually, 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. Now there are some people that are looking at the brand, taking care of the brand. So, at one point you will see something, but I can’t say more than that.
“Because also 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.”
With a high profile franchise such as Splinter Cell, and one that has seen significant leadership changes through the years, it’s understandable that the development teams would be feeling pressure to meet all of the fan expectations. Though many just want something familiar to that of previous entries, it’s one that is held in high regard in the gaming community and it’s that community that Ubisoft needs to honor going forward.
Whether we’ll see an official announcement any time soon is up in the air, though we’ve had quite a few teasers over the years about a new entry. Though unlikely, perhaps we might even see something during E3 this year now that Sony has decided to take itself out of the expo equation.
Published: Apr 9, 2019 06:30 pm