Why Does Ubisoft Continue To Avoid Splinter Cell?

Previous to the success of Murderer’s Creed and Simply Dance, the collective “Tom Clancy’s” video games have been arguably Ubisoft’s greatest hits. Rainbow Six revolutionized close-quarters tactical squad shooters with its relentless issue and necessitated planning. Ghost Recon took the motion into bigger areas for a mix of intense motion and precision. But it surely was Splinter Cell that cemented Ubisoft’s place because the grasp of the techno-military thriller sport.

The sequence took the stealth-action ideas pioneered by Metallic Gear Strong and improved them to near-perfect ranges, even working the tagline “Stealth Motion Redefined” into the primary sport’s full title. Splinter Cell advanced and morphed within the years that adopted, including extra motion components, a higher emphasis on darkish, private storytelling, and inventive new multiplayer modes. For a very long time, it appeared prefer it might do no mistaken, and even after needing to change actors for Sam Fisher when creating Splinter Cell Blacklist–Michael Ironside was on the time–new studio Ubisoft Toronto delivered a slick mixture of conventional stealth and lethal motion.

After which Splinter Cell disappeared, solely not in a enjoyable means like when Sam Fisher blends into the darkness and turns into the evening itself.

It has been almost eight years since Splinter Cell Blacklist was launched, and Ubisoft has proven nearly little interest in persevering with the sequence with one other mainline entry. As a substitute, now we have an upcoming animated sequence for Netflix, Sam’s inclusion in different sequence like Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six, and a VR-exclusive sport in partnership with Oculus. Do not get me mistaken: These DLC appearances have been enjoyable, I am excited in regards to the Netflix present, and the concept of being behind Sam’s goggles in VR sounds unimaginable. However they can not exchange the brand new, full AAA sport that gamers need.

Is Ubisoft afraid of Splinter Cell? In accordance with Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, that truly is likely to be the case. Again in 2019, he stated the corporate’s improvement groups have been due to how passionate–and typically indignant and demanding–the followers will be. How are you going to create a sport that appears new when gamers are adamant about what they do not wish to change?

It is a powerful nut to crack, however Ubisoft has made huge adjustments to Splinter Cell prior to now whereas nonetheless retaining the sequence’ essence. Double Agent, whereas not the best-received sport within the sequence, launched a sliding belief system that pressured Sam to steadiness supporting the NSA and a homegrown terrorist group referred to as John Brown’s Military. Conviction emphasised Sam’s deadliness whereas remaining undetected, and Blacklist used a play-your-way philosophy that allowed for stealth purists and motion followers to each benefit from the sport. Sure, not each experiment labored, however Splinter Cell has been considered one of Ubisoft’s most persistently well-executed franchises.

Regardless of the franchise’s constant high quality and the newest sport’s good opinions, Splinter Cell Blacklist did not meet Ubisoft’s gross sales expectations, and that seemingly gave the corporate pause when contemplating its subsequent transfer. The sport by no means bought a re-release on the Xbox One or PS4, and it wasn’t till 2018 that it was even backward suitable on Xbox One.

Since then, we have seen two new Ghost Recon video games. Rainbow Six Siege launched and have become an esports staple. Each The Division and The Division 2 joined the live-game scene. And almost each summer time, followers hoping for a brand new Splinter Cell sport announcement are met with disappointment together with a obscure assertion from Guillemot on how Ubisoft has not forgotten the franchise.

Having a big-name sport fail to satisfy your gross sales expectations is actually trigger for concern, however there have been a number of components at play when Blacklist launched. It was launched only a few months earlier than new methods have been because of hit cabinets, and it was operating on an engine that was woefully dated. It additionally launched on the identical day as a couple of different AAA video games, together with Saints Row 4 and The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, which might have no less than muddied the waters.

The Michael Ironside state of affairs had given the sport some unhealthy press earlier than it was even out. The actor hadn’t talked about his sickness throughout this time–and didn’t owe anybody an explanation–and Ubisoft adopted go well with, more likely to shield his privateness. To followers, it appeared like Ubisoft had unceremoniously dropped one of many individuals who was key to defining Sam as a personality.

That would not be an issue with a brand new sport, as Ironside’s most cancers is in remission and he has supplied Sam’s voice in a number of special-event missions within the Ghost Recon sequence since then. He even , and you may’t present your ardour for a job rather more than that.

The entire “do not change it” fear that Guillemot expressed a couple of years in the past appears particularly legitimate now, as we have seen Ubisoft make some choices for different Clancy franchises that simply do not make a lot sense. Ghost Recon Wildlands’ big open world and chaotic strategy to cooperative motion made it an enormous, if unpolished, hit, however when Ghost Recon Breakpoint launched, it appeared like the corporate had realized all of the mistaken classes. It felt even buggier, and the gear degree system felt misplaced, making it far too just like The Division. Finally, it took months of post-launch updates so as to add (and take away) options earlier than Breakpoint would really feel like Ghost Recon once more.

Breakpoint woefully undersold, and oddly, this might truly be a very good factor for a possible new Splinter Cell sport. Ubisoft has seen how attempting to shoehorn current franchises into its present “greater and with extra RPG components” overarching design philosophy merely would not work more often than not. It actually would not work with Splinter Cell.

This is not a zero-sum sport: Splinter Cell can evolve whereas nonetheless feeling like Splinter Cell. Bigger particular person maps with extra methods to strategy them, unexplored settings, and a singular story angle can all do that whereas nonetheless interesting to longtime gamers. So long as it retains the core pillars of Splinter Cell–staying hidden in extraordinarily harmful conditions and utilizing a complete bunch of cool gadgets–it can be simply effective. The Clancy franchise title is arguably stronger now than it ever has been, notably due to Rainbow Six’s success, and this could work in Splinter Cell’s favor. Ubisoft doesn’t must ship the proper sport that appeals to everybody, as such a factor isn’t potential. It simply must convey Splinter Cell again. Splinter Cell followers clearly desire a new sport, and after almost eight years, the time is correct. An absence of stealth espionage video games from opponents emphasizes how a lot Ubisoft can make the most of the state of affairs and launch the sequence again to superstardom.

Maybe Ubisoft is utilizing tasks like Splinter Cell VR and the Netflix sequence to gauge curiosity in a future sport, and if that is the case, I imagine Ubisoft will discover that there’s. Guillemot would not get requested about it yr after yr if there weren’t any curiosity. However the firm should perceive that that is the stealth espionage franchise now. Metallic Gear Strong reveals little signal of returning, and it is as much as Splinter Cell to hold the torch.

“Then it is solely me,” after it was implied that Strong Snake had retired.

Sure, Sam. It is just you. And you are going to just do effective in case your creators bear in mind why you grew to become so well-liked within the first place.