Splinter Cell's comeback will offer "some new type of experiences, but more on different devices", promises Ubisoft

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

The Splinter Cell franchise has offered some of the best stealth games of all time over its multi-decade history, but the last time we saw its spec ops protagonist Sam Fisher was in 2013's Splinter Cell: Blacklist, leaving fans eager for the series to make its long awaited comeback. 

In recent years, Ubisoft has been more transparent in justifying Splinter Cell's hiatus, explaining that it's a matter of finding the right time and team for the beloved Tom Clancy property, but - thankfully - the publisher has confirmed that a new Splinter Cell project of some sort is currently being worked on. 

Indeed, in a recent interview with Gamersky, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot teased that Sam Fisher's return to video games might not be in the form of a traditional, blockbuster release, but instead offer "some new type of experiences, but more on different devices."

"We are working a little bit on the brand today to come back at one point", continued Guillemot. "We can’t say when, because, as you know, it takes time. But each time we have to find the right experience to come back big."

That last statement about timing suggests we could well be into the era of the PS5 and Xbox Project Scarlett by the time of a new Splinter Cell experience shows up, but it sounds like the series may not even arrive on that next-generation of hardware anyway, with Guillemot's comment "different devices" implying a mobile experience of some sort. 

In other words, it's good news and bad news for Splinter Cell fans, as Ubisoft is definitely working on something Sam Fisher related right now... it just might not be the triple-A stealth experience we were hoping for. 

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Alex Avard

I'm GamesRadar's Features Writer, which makes me responsible for gracing the internet with as many of my words as possible, including reviews, previews, interviews, and more. Lucky internet!