XDefiant is reportedly a new Splinter Cell game from developer Dispatch

Not long ago, Ubisoft was developing a new Splinter Cell game. But over time, it evolved into XDefiant, according to a new report.

This comes from a Bloomberg reports on AdHoc StudioThe developers of the workplace superhero comedy game Dispatch talk about their journey from Telltale Games to Ubisoft to their own independent studio. AdHoc's leadership began working together at Telltale Games on Legends of the Borderlands before Nick Herma, Dennis Lenart, and Pierre Shorette left Ubisoft in 2017. There, the three worked together to develop a new game in the “Splinter Cell” series.

“I'm excited to be a part of it and help revive it because it's been dormant for a while,” Herman told Bloomberg. “We thought we could tell a great story and do something that fans would love.”

However, they explain that Ubisoft is starting to push games-as-a-service heavily across its portfolio, and Splinter Cell doesn't quite fit that mold. Over time, the Splinter Cell project transformed into what became xDefiant, a free-to-play first-person shooter. Moderate reviews last year and It just closed in June this year, and the two studios also closed with it..

The three eventually reunited with another former Telltale colleague, Michael Choung, and founded AdHoc Studio in 2018. They were also involved as co-writers on The Wolf Among Us 2 while developing what would eventually become Dispatch, but dropped out of the project after writing 800 pages of the script due to frustrations with a lack of creative control. that project, last time we heard about itseems equally ill-fated.

Eventually, though, the team, with the help of casting director Linda Lamontagne and the support of the publisher and a host of high-profile actors, came up with the final version of “Dispatch.” A last-minute deal with Critical Role for another game helped them cross the finish line.

As for Splinter Cell, fans are still without a new game, with the last new Splinter Cell game being blacklisted back in 2013. Said to be a remake of the original 2002 gamebut Ubisoft has been silent on it since 2022, and it's hard to say whether it will appear at all.

At the same time, the scheduling is excellent. yes Review in progress As each episode rolls in, but you can read our thoughts on the first two here now, our reviewer said they were “completely captivated by this world and I was intrigued to get involved in Robert's fractured personal life.”

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter at IGN. You can find her posts at BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Have a story tip? Send it to [email protected].