When a new entry in one of a publisher’s most successful franchises starts to enter a downwards spiral, it’s not very often that they’ll scrap it altogether, sacrificing the brand’s integrity as faith in the project lays in tatters. But to this point, that has seemed to be the case with Rainbow 6: Patriots, a new iteration of the tactical team-based shooter which was set to bring the series into the next-gen, but after hitting several speedbumps in development saw multiple versions and millions of dollars flushed into the ether.

It's a testament to the brand's staying power that despite this, some are still holding a candle for Ubisoft’s once-flagship shooting franchise. And in a turn of events that will fill those faithful with renewed hope, one team member with work on the project has implied that not only is a new Rainbow 6 not dead, but already in active development.

Rainbow 6: Patriots was originally positioned as a game which covered ‘terrorism on the homefront’ in a plot which was set to see the Rainbow 6 team tackle those who would want to wreak havoc on U.S. soil as they attempted to deliver their own brand of justice. It was internal debate on the direction of the game that was said to be the cause of the stuttered development with president of Ubisoft North America once threatening that “If it doesn't work, we’re not going to bring it to you.” The project might be on track now however, with Thomas Begne, the Team Lead Event Scripter at Ubisoft Montreal, listing that work is still very much going on with Rainbow 6: Patriots.

According to Begne’s LinkedIn profile he has been working on Rainbow 6: Patriots since June 2013, first as an “Event scripter” before being promoted to his current role earlier this month. That puts his work on the game at around 11 months. Considering that Rainbow 6: Patriots was previously announced at the Spike VGAs in 2011, that’s over 2 years of work having gone into the game which would give the team at Ubisoft more than enough time to put something presentable together in time for E3 2014 in June. It's no surprise considering the amount of "triple-A" projects hinted to be at development at Ubisoft's young Toronto studio and what's undoubtedly also being worked on across the company's worldwide set of development houses.

Also interesting is that while Begne’s profile directly refers to the game, it lists Rainbow 6: Patriots as “Rainbow 6” while also referring to it as an “Unannounced project” on the same page. While proof of a name change certainly isn't concrete, it’s more than likely that Ubisoft would present the game afresh at E3 2014 minus the ‘Patriots’ suffix, especially as the game’s current name has become synonymous with delays and development troubles. A brand new game would reflect all the changes that have been made since Rainbow 6: Patriots was introduced all that time ago.

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More: What Happened To Rainbow 6: Patriots?

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Source: LinkedIn, (via superannuation)