Hope was starting to mount for fans as Ubisoft Forward approached on Saturday, alongside a couple exciting announcements for a certain subsect of Tom Clancy fans. Of all the long dormant Ubisoft franchises that hardcore fans want to make a comeback, Splinter Cell is generally one of the top picks. Unlike other long dormant franchises like Beyond Good & Evil, which has a confirmed sequel on the way, Splinter Cell games have been dormant since 2013's Splinter Cell: Blacklist. Of course, fans have vocalized their frustrations as much as possible regarding the distinct lack of proper Splinter Cell entries, or even news about the series.
E3 is generally when conversations around a new entry come to a fever pitch, and understandably so. While last year was an exception, this year's E3 2021 brought back some of the hype and fan desire for another Splinter Cell game. Both innately as the time of year for video game announcements, as well as Ubisoft making several tangential Splinter Cell announcements, many expected to see at least a tease of something Splinter Cell related at Ubisoft Forward. Despite this, the event came and went without Splinter Cell, despite the announcement of an animated series, rumors of a multiplayer spin-off, among all the existing history of Splinter Cell cameos.
An Animated Series, Multiplayer Spin-Off, No Mainline Splinter Cell
The most recent prompting of Splinter Cell requests comes from an atypical announcement compared to previous years: Revealed at Netflix's Geeked Week, an animated Splinter Cell series is in the works exclusively for the streaming platform. The only other confirmed detail about the series thus far is John Wick writer Derek Kolstad is working on the project as well. Beyond that, not much is known other than a single confirmed character render of what appears to be a much older Sam Fisher. That being said, any excitement for the show was quickly interrupted by confused and frustrated fans, wondering where the video game franchise has gone.
Beyond the animated series, an E3 leak further emboldened Splinter Cell fans when they learned about another potential Tom Clancy game with a Sam Fisher/Splinter Cell cameo potentially on the way. Reportedly called "BattleCat," Ubisoft is planning a new PvP multiplayer, first-person shooter for console and PC. Mashing together several Tom Clancy's franchises like Ghost Recon, The Division, and of course Splinter Cell, each franchise has unique character classes with specific abilities and equipment. Apparently there's two game modes: an Overwatch-like mode called "Escort," and some kind of Kill Confirmed-style mode called "Ringleader."
Seven Years Have Passed Since Splinter Cell: Blacklist Released
This is without even mentioning the many other cameos and spin-offs for Splinter Cell that have come in the years since Blacklist's release. There's the announced Splinter Cell VR spin-off, the Sam Fisher cameos in both Ghost Recon Wildlands and Ghost Recon Breakpoint, his inclusion as an operator in Rainbow Six Siege, among other smaller cameos. Initially, these cameos and spin-offs led to jokes about more Fisher cameos than actual games, but over time, this joke became a very recent reality. The last seven years have been devoid of a proper Splinter Cell sequel, and 2021 won't be changing that. Instead, Ubisoft is unintentionally continuing the meme.
To be fair, it's got to be particularly difficult to imagine how a Splinter Cell sequel could succeed with expectations so inherently high. Games like Starfield garner insurmountable hype simply by existing, in tandem with the pedigree of the development studio behind the project. For a Splinter Cell sequel/new entry, as an iconic series beloved by many fans, the expectations are arguably even higher. Some fans may want a more traditional stealth experience like Chaos Theory, some fans may prefer the hybrid stealth-action of Blacklist. Some may just straight up want more Splinter Cell games, regardless of how they're designed or how they play.
Unfortunately, it looks like fans are going to have to wait until next year to see if there's another Splinter Cell game in store. There have been rumors previously, with actors mentioning that they're expecting a new Splinter Cell entry, while other developers have teased Splinter Cell as a joke previously. The reality is that, even if a Splinter Cell game is in development, clearly its very early in development. If the game's not even ready for a tease just yet, or if it's even started development at all, then it's going to be a long time before the next mainline Splinter Cell game sees release.
A Splinter Cell game is not confirmed to be in development.