What Really Happened With Splinter Cell? (And Why It's Coming Back)

Ubisoft's Internal Explanation For Why The Series Disappeared

As mentioned throughout, Splinter Cell had one hell of a rough response when it came to Conviction and Blacklist. With a fanbase reeling from so many gameplay changes, then losing Michael Ironside and not understanding why, you can see why Ubi would let things cool.

Revealed in a a 2019 interview with IGN, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillermot finally clarified exactly what's been happening across the last few years.

Turns out, it revolves around the fan response to Splinter Cell Conviction, Blacklist and Ironside all in one.

Yves noted that the concept of a sequel has to mean "something that will be different enough from what you did before". He added that the "last time we did a Splinter Cell, we had lots of pressure from all the fans saying, ‘Don’t change it; don’t do this; don’t do that.’"

This pressure was so much, in fact, that "some of the teams were more anxious to work on the brand.”

He did round out the interview with positivity, saying "there are some people now looking at the brand; taking care of the brand", and stating that "at one point you will see something", but he wouldn't say what.

Now, you have to imagine he was referring to the aforementioned Ghost Recon packs - or the godawful Elite Squad, an Ubisoft mobile game where you play as cel-shaded versions of characters like Sam Fisher or the SWAT teams from Rainbow Six - but I think taken alongside Ironside's comments from 2019, it's something bigger.

Case in point: Ironside saying "I am Sam Fisher" to Inside Xbox, and that he "never left". When asked about something more, he had to talk around potential plans, stating he wanted to "see if storylines would allow for Sam [to come] back".

With all this in mind - and let's go into full-on fan wish fulfilment for the close here - how should Splinter Cell return?