If you’re a fan of Splinter Cell, then you might want to hit the pause button and stop reading right here.
That’s because, according to a new report from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, a new Splinter Cell game was in development as recently as 2017. However, the project was ultimately canceled with the studio morphing it into XDefiant, a now-canceled live-service free-to-play first-person shooter.
Sam Fisher Truly Deserves Better Than This
The report, which details Dispatch’s rise to success, notes that AdHoc Studio co-founder Nick Herman and two of his colleagues first went to Ubisoft after time spent at Telltale Games. There, they were developing a new entry in the Splinter Cell franchise, only it wasn’t meant to be.
“I was so excited to be a part of this and help revitalize it, because it’s been dormant for a while,” Herman said. “And we thought we could tell a great story and do something the fans would love.”
Unfortunately, the project was only worked on for a few months before Ubisoft began aggressively pursuing a Games as a Service (GaaS) strategy, one that reportedly was imposed on all its projects. Eventually, Ubisoft lost interest in a Splinter Cell revival, instead wanting something that could compete with Call of Duty. Herman asserts that his team tried to make a narrative GaaS. However, their efforts were mostly futile.
It’s truly fascinating how no one seems to be able to get a Splinter Cell game off the ground. I’m not a game developer, but it feels like as big a slam dunk opportunity there is.
That project eventually became XDefiant, the company’s answer to COD. The trio went on to create their own space, with Dispatch quickly following suit. The rest, as they say, is history, and perhaps all for the better given how things turned out for XDefiant after launch.
“It was exciting to go to work for the first six months because we thought we were going to be able to make something really great,” Herman said. “And then you realize that all of the things you care about, they don’t anymore. It’s a common thing in games.”
When XDefiant did finally release, its existence was rather short-lived. Sure, it had some characters from Splinter Cell in there, but it was ultimately something that gamers had seen before time and time again — a live-service shooter. After finally releasing in mid-May 2024, the game was shutdown that December, with downloads being ended and content as a whole ending this past June.
As its player base continued to dwindle, Ubisoft attempted to give out free paid-currency in a bid to get players to return. However, it was essentially too late. Prior to finding out that it was intended to be a Splinter Cell game, XDefiant was likely best going to be remembered for the time its producer told haters to move on and play something else. All that is to say: Sam Fisher, we miss you.
- Released
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November 18, 2002
- ESRB
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t
- Developer(s)
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Ubisoft Montreal
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 2
