After countless teasers by Ubisoft themselves and Walmart Canada (the long-rumored
Splinter Cell remains the only title that leaked last May and still hasn't been officially revealed), it's rather safe to say that Ubisoft is still thinking about the brand that helped them to establish their own identity.
In a new interview with IGN's Joseph Knoop, the company's CEO Yves Guillemot had a chance to reveal new details on the next
Splinter Cell and take a step back and look at the overall
Tom Clancy's legacy.
When it comes to the first
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, it "
changed a lot of the company,” Guillemot said. “
We went for the Xbox, and it was a complex bet, and a dangerous bet because they didn't have many machines [out there]. Launching on that machine and not PlayStation at the time was a bit risky, but we couldn't go straight on PlayStation. We wanted to use the capacity of the [Xbox]. We did very well on Xbox. We hit probably 50 percent of the install base,” Guillemot continued.
Considering that
Splinter Cell has been "missing in action" since the launch of
Splinter Cell: Blacklist in 2013, many fans have been wondering about the future of the beloved stealth franchise, but Ubisoft has had their own reasons to put the acclaimed series on hiatus. "
When you create a game you have to make sure that you will come up with something that will be different enough than what you did before, and the last time we did a Splinter Cell, we had a lot of pressure from the fans actually saying “don’t change this, don’t do this, don’t do that,” so some of the teams were more anxious to work on the brand," Guillemot explained.
"Now, there are some people that are looking at the brand, taking care of the brand. At one point, you will see something, but I can’t say more than that."
"
Also, because of Assassin’s Creed and all the other brands taking off, people wanted to work more on those brands, so we have to follow what they like to do," the CEO added. Asked by the interviewer about all the teasers of the new
Splinter Cell game we've seen and the studio's "cruelty" in ignoring the fans' desires, Guillemot tellingly laughed and concluded with a pretty simple "
it’s true, it’s true."
The latest entry in the
Tom Clancy's series,
The Division 2, is available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC now, currently sitting at a fantastic 86% score on Metacritic. Ubisoft’s press conference at E3 2019 will be held on Monday, June 10 at 1:00 p.m. PT (10:00AM ET, 7:00AM GMT, 6:00AM on June 11 AEST).
Washington D.C. is on the brink of collapse. Lawlessness and instability threaten our society, and rumors of a coup in the capitol are only amplifying the chaos. All active Division agents are desperately needed to save the city before it's too late. You are a member of the Division, an elite group of civilian agents charged with being the last line of defense. With DC at risk, it's time to gear up and use your unique skills to take on this new threat.
Tom Clancy's The Division 2 will be available March 15th, 2019 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.