Ubisoft Announces a Remake of Splinter Cell: Everything We Know so far. The remake will not be open-world though, according to Ubisoft’s announcement article. Instead, linear levels will be used, with “every square inch being part of an option, or directly offering a choice.”
The game’s development team has also stated that it would have updated aesthetics (a wise decision given that the original was released almost two decades ago), as well as adjustments to “several of the design features” to “meet player comfort and expectations.”
Ubisoft Announces Splinter Cell Remake
Ubisoft has revealed that a remake of the original Splinter Cell is in the works, aiming to maintain the game’s secretive ethos while also making it accessible to current gamers. Ubisoft Toronto is working on it, and also the firm claims it’ll employ the Snowdrop engine it co-developed (and has used in games like The Division and Mario + Rabbids) to make use of modern console technology.
Snowdrop, according to Technical Producer Peter Handrinos, will help Ubisoft update the experience. “From a tech standpoint, if I had to reduce it down to a handful of lines in terms of the difference, what we’re doing here is exploration and innovation,” he writes of the remake in a blog post. “We have a new engine and a new console lifecycle to use, so technology is one area where we don’t want to be locked in the past.”
New Splinter Cell is not an Open-World Game
The remake’s makers claim in a blog post that they want to reinvent what Splinter Cell can be with new technologies while staying true to the game’s essence and structure. The game’s planning-heavy stealth emphasis and linearity will remain. This indicates it won’t be an open-world game, despite the fact that nearly all of Ubisoft’s single-player titles are today.
Fans are Guardedly Optimistic
Although the initial reaction from fans appears to be guardedly optimistic (with some pleading with Ubisoft not to screw everything up with NFTs), it’s just not time to start holding your breath for a release date; in its Q&A, one of the game’s producers says that it’s currently “in the very early planning stages.” Given that Ubisoft’s advertising material for the game now has “now hiring” pasted all over it, it appears that it may be a while before the team is completely gathered to begin working on the game.
Ubisoft Toronto is the Perfect Developer
Ubisoft Toronto is no stranger to Splinter Cell – the latest game in the series, Blacklist, was the studio’s debut release. Since then, it has worked on titles such as Far Cry 5 and 6, as well as Watch Dogs: Legion.
“We’ll be straddling the line between the spirit of the old and the comfort of the new,” Producer Matt West explains, “so that we can delight and surprise new players while also ensuring that when our returning players pick up the controller, they have that sigh of relief, saying “Ahhh, they got it.“
