Splinter Cellfans have been waiting a very long time for news on the franchise. Every year since the release ofSplinter Cell: Blacklistin 2013 seems to have had its own rumors of a newSplinter Cellbeing in development. While a new game has yet to be confirmed, Ubisoft did officially announce it would be working on a remake of the originalSplinter Cell. Some fans questioned whether it would actually come to fruition, but Ubisoft is now openly recruiting developers to come work on theSplinter Cellremake.
In a post shared via the official account of Ubisoft Toronto, the development studio behind theupcomingSplinter Cellremakeexplicitly asks for applicants interested in working on the classic franchise. The post starts by stating clearly that Ubisoft Toronto is remakingSplinter Cell"from the ground up" and it’s looking for developers to help. As if that wasn’t subtle enough, the message ends with “Activate your trifocal goggles, Agent,” referencingSplinter Cellprotagonist Sam Fisher’s unique night vision goggles.
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The tweet has a short video clip attached to it showingFisher’s gogglesand their three green lights flashing, before listing some of the positions Ubisoft Toronto is looking to fill. These positions include Lead Programmers focusing on gameplay, engine work, AI, and 3D, as well as Concept Artist and Technical Animator roles.
Looking at the officialUbisoft Torontowebsite for open positions, there are many, many more than those listed in the video. 63 different positions are open at the moment, not only in programming and art, but also in human resources, project management, audio, financial planning, and IT. The positions Ubisoft focused on in its short video must be a priority for the studio and itsSplinter Cellproject.
Using theSplinter Cellbrandas a tool for recruitment is certainly a clever idea. It’s a brand that many young game developers grew up with and may have loved, so the opportunity to work on such a big franchise has to be attractive to many. However, there is a question as to why Ubisoft Toronto is needing to recruit so many developers, as well as why it needs to be so aggressive with recruitment. After all, it hasn’t made aSplinter Cellgame in over 8 years. Ubisoft may be presentingSplinter Cellas a major franchise, but it hasn’t been treated like one for some time.
As for the turnover,Ubisoft’s recent controversiesregarding workplace discrimination are certainly a factor, with over 100 Ubisoft Toronto employees going public with their frustrations. Studio co-founder Maxime Béland even resigned over the matter. As such, aSplinter Cellremake may not be enough to fully recover from the controversy.
