New Splinter Cell Game Was Scrapped and Turned Into XDefiant

A recent report shows that Ubisoft originally planned a new Splinter Cell game, but they changed course to create XDefiant as a live-service game. This means fans of Sam Fisher and the Splinter Cell series are still waiting for a new installment, a wait that’s been extended by the difficulties in developing the remake.

It’s been a while since the last full Splinter Cell game, Blacklist, came out in 2013. Since then, fans have only seen glimpses of the series’ main character, Sam Fisher, in other games like Ghost Recon: Wildlands and Rainbow Six: Siege, and an animated series on Netflix. Ubisoft has often been asked about a new Splinter Cell game at gaming events, but a proper sequel hadn’t been announced until a remake of the original Splinter Cell was revealed in 2021. Now, it appears fans were actually closer to getting a completely new game in the stealth series than they thought.

A New Splinter Cell Game Almost Happened

A recent article by industry expert Jason Schreier reveals the story behind the popular game Dispatch. According to the article, in 2017, AdHoc Studio co-founder Nick Herman and former Telltale Games developers teamed up with Ubisoft’s San Francisco office to secretly work on a new Splinter Cell game. Herman expressed his enthusiasm for reviving the dormant series, believing his team could deliver a compelling story that would appeal to dedicated fans.

That positive feeling didn’t last. Within months, Ubisoft became very interested in the “Games-as-a-Service” model – a way to keep earning money from games long after they’re released, similar to popular online games like Destiny 2 and Fortnite. The team began working on a story-driven game using this model, but Ubisoft then decided to shift away from Splinter Cell altogether, aiming instead to create a competitor to online shooters like Call of Duty.

After a long development process, the game became XDefiant, an online shooter featuring characters from popular Ubisoft franchises like The Division, Rainbow Six, Watch Dogs, Ghost Recon, Far Cry, and Assassin’s Creed, as well as Splinter Cell. It launched in May 2024 and quickly gained a large player base, becoming Ubisoft’s fastest game to reach 1 million unique players. However, its popularity didn’t last, and development was ultimately canceled in December 2024.

Things aren’t looking good for the Splinter Cell remake. It’s been a long time since we’ve heard any updates, and now the game has seen a second director leave the project. Andy Schmoll, who took over from David Grivel (who left in 2022), has also departed. With so little news from Ubisoft and these changes in leadership, fans are understandably worried about whether the remake will ever actually be finished.

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2025-11-15 00:05