Splinter Cell Remake in the Works, Reveals Ubisoft

Ubisoft has officially announced that they are working on a Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell remake. Whether it is purely a remake of the original title is not entirely clear, as the official reveal says that the title will “draw from the rich canvas of the brand.”

Announced in a post on the Ubisoft website, the new project will be spearheaded by Ubisoft Toronto, and will be utilizing Ubisoft’s Snowdrop engine, which will be also be used in other upcoming Ubisoft titles such as Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, and the studio’s Star Wars game and will “deliver new-generation visuals and gameplay, and the dynamic lighting and shadows the series is known for.” The game is still in early development and has no announced date or window that players should expect to be able to dawn the night vision goggles of Sam Fisher. Along with this announcement, Ubisoft also provided an interview with Creative Director Chris Auty, Producer Matt West, and Technical Producer Peter Handrinos to discuss their connection to the series and how and what they intend to retain in the upcoming remake.

Although we’re still in the very earliest stages of development, what we’re trying to do is make sure the spirit of the early games remains intact, in all of the ways that gave early Splinter Cell its identity,” said West, explaining what makes this project a remake and not a remaster. “So, as we’re building it from the ground up, we’re going to update it visually, as well as some of the design elements to match player comfort and expectations, and we are going to keep it linear like the original games, not make it open world.” Handrinos further elaborates by explaining, “From a tech perspective, if I had to boil it down to a couple of words in terms of the difference, what we’re doing is exploration and innovation here. We’ve got a new engine and a new console lifecycle to take advantage of, so the tech is one area that we don’t want stuck in the past.”

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tom-clancys-splinter-cell — Image via Ubisoft

When asked what is the most important thing that reads should take from this announcement, Auty said:

“It’s safe to say a lot of us on the team are stealth purists, and we’re behind that level of seriousness when it comes to those kinds of mechanics, and those sorts of things that we want to see in this game. And we’re very, very aware of what makes classic Splinter Cell what it is… With this remake, we are building a solid base for the future of Splinter Cell.”

The original Splinter Cell title debuted in 2002 and in the 19 years since then has had a total of seven games in the series. This will be the first Splinter Cell title since 2013’s Splinter Cell Blacklist, also developed by Ubisoft Toronto. In the eight years since then, series protagonist Sam Fisher has shown up in other titles such as a cameo appearance in Ghost Recon: Wildlands and Rainbow Six Siege. There were recent rumors earlier this month that pointed to an unnamed Splinter Cell project that would be going towards an open-world design similar to other Ubisoft titles like Assassin’s Creed, though it has been confirmed that that will not be the case for this game. It is unknown if another project that will fall in line with these rumors will manifest.

The Splinter Cell remake is still in early production with no release date or window currently announced. Check out Ubisoft’s post on Twitter about the new game below.