Ubisoft Toronto will be remaking Splinter Cell, the beloved stealth shooter game starring the one and only Sam Fisher, rather than developing a sequel to 2013's Splinter Cell: Blacklist. Fans of the studio's stealth-shooter series had been left wondering what had become of Sam Fisher following the 2013 release, with the character only making cameo appearances in Ghost Recon Wildlands and Ghost Recon Breakpoint, as well as a playable operator in Rainbow Six Siege. Rumors of a new Splinter Cell persisted throughout that time, but rather than developing a follow-up to Blacklist in the Tom Clancy franchise, the next entry will remake the original game, which was first released in 2002.

Splinter Cell, like The Division and Rainbow Six, are based on novels from Tom Clancy, a famous American author who primarily focused on post-Cold War military and espionage fiction. In 2002, the first video game adaptation of Splinter Cell was released on numerous platforms, most notably the original Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube. The story follows Sam Fisher, iconically voiced by Michael Ironside, a black ops agent working for the National Security Agency, as he investigates the murders of two CIA officers and uncovers a complicated plot involving the president of Georgia and the Chinese government.

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As the 20-year anniversary of Splinter Cell looms ever closer in 2022, the game and franchise as a whole are now regarded as key influences in the stealth genre. It was also heavily praised for its graphics and lighting effects, and, like the Solid Snake-fronted Metal Gear Solid, Splinter Cell incorporated futuristic technology in its plots. Technology ages, though, and the Splinter Cell series’ commitment to its visual fidelity is part of what encouraged the Ubisoft Toronto team to begin working on a full-fledged remake.

Why Ubisoft Is Remaking Splinter Cell Instead Of Making A Sequel

Sam Fisher of Splinter Cell.

In a lengthy news article by Mikel Reparaz on Ubisoft’s website, the company announced not only the existence of the Splinter Cell remake, but the engine that the Ubisoft Toronto team is utilizing for development - Snowdrop. While Snowdrop might not be as much of a household name as EA’s Frostbite, it is the engine running a few notable upcoming games, including Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and the untitled (and unrevealed) Star Wars Ubisoft game. With a new engine comes new capabilities for visuals and gameplay, and Ubisoft’s news article specifically mentions “the dynamic lighting and shadows” that were partly responsible for Splinter Cell’s rise to fame in 2002.

The announcement on Ubisoft’s website also includes an in-depth interview with some of the developers of the Splinter Cell remake. However, the summary of the interview, and their reasoning behind the remake, essentially boils down to two factors: visual innovation and gameplay upgrades. The Splinter Cell remake is remaining true to the series’ roots, according to the developers, and will tell a linear story that, hopefully, updates the visuals and controls for modern audiences who may have no prior experience with Sam Fisher other than his non-Splinter Cell cameos.

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In the interview, one of the developers, Matt West, mentions that the remake route is better for the franchise than a simple remaster because of Splinter Cell’s prior focus on visuals. A remaster would only upscale existing assets whereas a complete remake is allowing the team to implement new technology that didn’t exist in 2002. More than that, Snowdrop is specifically described as an engine for “new-generation visuals and gameplay”, indicating that the process focuses on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Like with every new generation of consoles, it’ll take a year or two for developers to find their footing with new technology, but the creation of a Splinter Cell remake using Snowdrop demonstrates a focus on innovation.

Why Splinter Cell Is Getting A Remake And Not A Remaster

Sam Fisher in the darkness.

Additionally, a Splinter Cell remake is more likely to bring in new players than a remaster. There are thousands, if not millions, of gamers who either weren’t born in 2002 when Splinter Cell and the first Tom Clancy games released or who were too young to play through it. Especially with updates to the controls, which the developers said was a key component of the remake process, it’s more likely that this upcoming Splinter Cell release will create an entirely new generation of fans for Ubisoft's franchise.

Whether Ubisoft will announce more Splinter Cell games after this remake remains to be seen, but the chances are far higher if the demand for the franchise reaches an all-time high after being revitalized by the remake. Longtime Splinter Cell fans have been asking for Sam Fisher’s return for years, with Blacklist leaving multiple unresolved narrative threads, and a remake is a strategic way to reintroduce the series. If the remake is successful, iterating on an already beloved story and innovating on console technology, it could be the start of a brand new Splinter Cell era on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Apart from cameos in Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six Siege, Splinter Cell and Sam Fisher missed an entire console generation, a fact that developer Peter Handrinos touches on in the interview on Ubisoft’s website, which means there’s almost a decade of technology that has never been utilized in the Tom Clancy series and numerous new gamers who have never touched the game. Considering what the Splinter Cell development teams were able to create in the past, especially in the early 2000s with games like Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory, and where technology is today, it’s possible that Splinter Cell could not just push the industry forward but also reintroduce more traditional stealth experiences into the cultural zeitgeist. That alone makes revisiting the Splinter Cell series with new games worthwhile, and taking the original game and updating it for new audiences is a perfect place to begin, assuming reception to the remake is positive when it finally releases.

In Ubisoft’s announcement, there’s no indication of a potential release date, so this Splinter Cell remake is, most likely, at least three years away depending on the scope of the project. Because the news article specifically states that Ubisoft just greenlit the development on a Splinter Cell remake, it’s also safe to assume that gamers won’t get a glimpse at a trailer for a while, either. It may be difficult to wait, especially for dedicated Splinter Cell fans who have been waiting for this moment for years, but it’s time to take comfort in the revival of a long-dormant series and eagerly anticipate putting those famous goggles back on someday.

Next: Splinter Cell: Ubisoft May Not Know What To Do With Its Own Franchise