Ubisoft Killed Splinter Cell for a Failed CoD Clone
Key Highlights
- A new Splinter Cell game was in development at Ubisoft by former Telltale Games veterans.
- Ubisoft management reportedly forced the project to pivot into a "games-as-a-service" (GAAS) title to compete with hits like Call of Duty.
- This abandoned Splinter Cell project ultimately morphed into the recently failed live-service shooter, XDefiant.
- The developers left to form a new studio, and their single-player narrative game, Dispatch, has become a massive success, selling 1 million copies in 10 days.
A Franchise Betrayed
In a revelation that confirms the fears of many longtime fans, former developers have stated that Ubisoft sacrificed a promising new Splinter Cell game to create the failed live-service shooter, XDefiant. The decision was allegedly part of a relentless corporate push to chase the lucrative "games-as-a-service" model, sidelining the story-driven experiences that built the company's legacy.
The Lost Splinter Cell Project
According to a Bloomberg report, Telltale veterans Nick Herman, Dennis Lenart, and Pierre Shorette joined Ubisoft in 2017 with the exciting task of reviving the dormant Splinter Cell franchise. For fans of the stealth series, this was a dream team—developers known for their narrative prowess were set to bring Sam Fisher back into the spotlight.
"I was so excited to be a part of this and help revitalize it, because it's been dormant for a while," Herman explained. “And we thought we could tell a great story and do something the fans would love."
A Forced Pivot to Live Service
That excitement was short-lived. The report details how Ubisoft's upper management, eager for a massive, ongoing revenue stream similar to Call of Duty, intervened. The vision for a narrative-focused Splinter Cell was scrapped in favor of a live-service model.
The team attempted to reconcile the two opposing concepts. "Let's make a narrative GAAS game," Herman recalled of their efforts. "We were trying to make that make sense, and a lot of cool prototypes were made." However, Ubisoft's interest in the original vision waned, and the project was twisted into something unrecognizable.
The Birth of XDefiant and a Team's Disillusionment
The remnants of the Splinter Cell project eventually became XDefiant, Ubisoft's free-to-play arena shooter. After a lengthy development and numerous playtests, XDefiant launched in 2024, only to be shut down barely a year later, despite attracting over 15 million players.
The experience left the developers disheartened. “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 concluded. “And then you realize that all of the things you care about, they don’t anymore. It's a common thing in games.”
Herman, Lenart, and Shorette departed Ubisoft in 2018 to found AdHoc Studio. Their new single-player, story-driven superhero game, Dispatch, has sold over one million copies in just 10 days—a powerful testament to the massive audience for the very type of games they were prevented from making at Ubisoft.
