It's been nearly six years since Ubisoft's popular stealth action franchise, Splinter Cell, has last been seen, prompting fans to continue to seek answers as to when the series may return. Even after the surprising reveal that series protagonist Sam Fisher, and original voice actor Michael Ironside, was joining Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands for a short time last year, no announcements or news has come out regarding a potential new entry. There may be hope, however, as the series has once again come up inside of an annual prediction feature by video game industry analysts.

As one of the biggest analyst names out there, Wedbush Securities' own Michael Pachter has offered his take on what he expects to see in 2019. One of his predictions centers on Ubisoft which he believes will launch up to four new AAA titles this year which includes the previously revealed ship combat game, Skull & Bones. The other three are currently unannounced including a new Watch Dogs title, something new within the Rainbow Six franchise, and a brand new Splinter Cell title.

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Speaking of franchises overdue for a return, Pachter also expects a couple of major announcements from Take Two and a number of its studios, including Rockstar. While Borderlands 3 is a likely bet, especially after a number of recent leaks, the franchise he believes is overdue for an announcement is actually BioShock. In addition, Pachter also believes Rockstar will announce a new title for 2020 as well.

While a new Rainbow Six game now seems unlikely following last months' announcement of a fourth year of content, Splinter Cell seems like a game that is due to return sooner than later. It's also a series that has been a consistent topic brought up following each of the past couple of E3 events for Ubisoft and its CEO, Yves Guillemot. Last year at E3 2018, Guillemot was asked why the series was again absent from the show. While continuing to profess his love for the franchise, Guillemot did confirm that the company was planning to return to it though he, unfortunately, couldn't go into any more detail than that.

Source: GamesIndustry