The Creative Director of the last two Splinter Cell games has returned to Ubisoft after leaving the company last year. According to VGC, Maxime Beland has come back to the publisher as one of the leads on Ubisoft's newly-restructured editorial team. Said editorial team is responsible for overseeing creative decisions on all Ubisoft titles.
Predictably, Beland's return to Ubisoft has caused fans to get their underwear in a big old twist. It's their hope that with Splinter Cell's former Creative Director helping to oversee the direction Ubisoft goes on, we might just get a new entry in the stealth franchise. We're certainly due a new Splinter Cell, it has to be said. The last full game was Blacklist, which came out way back in 2013.
Beland initially joined Ubisoft back in 1998 as a Game Tester. He would remain at the company for 20 years, working as Creative Director on Rainbow Six: Vegas, Splinter Cell: Conviction, and Splinter Cell: Blacklist. He also served as Game Design Director on Assassin's Creed, and provided creative direction on Far Cry 4, Far Cry Primal, and Far Cry 5.
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In February 2019, Beland left Ubisoft to become a Creative Director at Epic Games. He remained there until October 2019, and is now reportedly back with Ubisoft. Whether his reunion with the publisher means a Splinter Cell revival is on the cards remains to be seen, but it is worth noting that the Creative Director on The Division 2 said that he was working on the next Splinter Cell back in 2019.
To be fair, Ubisoft swiftly stepped in to claim that the developer was only joking... but you have to wonder if there was some truth tucked away in there. Given the fact that Splinter Cell fans have been starved of news for so long, making a joke like that is very much akin to covering your hand in meat and poking it into a shark tank.
Unfortunately, it's far, far too early to say for sure whether Beland's new role means Splinter Cell suddenly has a guaranteed future at Ubisoft. Beland has worked on plenty of franchises over the years, and will likely work with the rest of the editorial team to put out titles with the most potential. I know a lot of us would love to see a new Splinter Cell, but temper your expectations for now.
Featured Image Credit: UbisoftTopics: Splinter Cell, Ubisoft