Update: Ubisoft is officially working on new Splinter Cell and Assassin's Creed games for virtual reality.
Both games are being chiefly developed by Ubisoft's Red Storm studio, whose previous VR projects include Star Trek: Bridge Crew and Werewolves Within. The new projects were announced along with many others - and the proper unveiling of the Oculus Quest 2 - during the Facebook Connect event today.
Ubisoft is reportedly set to announce new entries in two of its best-known franchises at today’s Facebook Connect event. According to Vandal, new Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell titles will be unveiled later today. The catch? They’re both VR games.
The report follows up on rumours that arose in summer 2019, claiming that both franchises would be coming to the Oculus Quest. While there’s been no official word on either game, Vandal’s article features quotes from developers at Red Storm Entertainment, a Ubisoft studio said to be leading development on the projects, which state that “Oculus’ next-generation hardware will allow us to bring the worlds of Assassin’s Creed and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell to life in a new way for fans.”
With Facebook seemingly hoping to unveil its Oculus Quest 2 headset at today’s event, it would make sense that it would be hoping to have some flagship games to ship with its new VR hardware.
But the decision to bring Splinter Cell back as a virtual reality experience may not go down well with fans. The Assassin’s Creed series has been well served in recent years, but Sam fisher has often been relegated to spin-off titles and cameos in some of Ubisoft’s other successful games, most recently Rainbow Six Siege. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has previously suggested that developers are nervous about bringing the series back given the weight of expectation, but has also stated that it would return, albeit with new experiences, and “on different devices.”
