Since Splinter Cell: Conviction released last April, there's been little news on another installment in the Tom Clancy series. Like Rainbox Six and Ghost Recon, the Splinter Cell titles have be become increasingly less tactical, trading details for "accessibility" but last year's stylistic take on the franchise with Conviction won over critics once again.

Splinter Cell 6 was name-dropped by Jade Raymond last November where she revealed that it's going to be fully developed by Ubisoft's new Toronto studio and some speculated that an official reveal would be teased at E3 2011, but it wasn't meant to be. According to the latest rumor however, Splinter Cell 6 will release next year.

The rumor stems from the Czech site, vytukej.cz, who claim that Elias Toufexis, the voice behind the character of Andriy Kobin in Splinter Cell: Conviction, said that the game is nearing completion and that it'll be ready for release in 2012.

The report continues with Toufexis explaining that the next game will be directly tied into the events of Conviction and that it'll be a more challenging game with quite a few gameplay changes. What this means and how accurate this may be, we'll just have to wait and see.

The character of Andriy Kobin was integral to the plot of Conviction (and its added co-op mode). He was responsible for the trickery behind the kidnapping of Sam's daughter in the game, and he's one of only three characters who survive Fisher's interrogations. At the end of the game, it's left hanging whether or not Kobin survives so if this rumor pans out, Kobin is back for Splinter Cell 6.

Alongside Assassin's Creed and Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell is Ubisoft's third flagship franchise that they plan to adapt for film with the company's newly formed Ubisoft Motion Pictures studio so it won't be long before we hear more about Splinter Cell 6.

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Source: vytukej