It's been nearly four years since Ubisoft confirmed the rumors and officially announced they were working on a Splinter Cell remake. The following day, the publisher also revealed some of the key members of the project's development team, including its Game Director, David Grivel.
Grivel, an industry veteran, was the Game Designer of Crysis 2 before moving to Ubisoft, where he worked on Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Assassin's Creed Unity, and, more recently, on two Far Cry games: the prehistoric spin-off (Primal) and the latest mainline installment (Far Cry 6).
Grivel didn't last long in the role, initially leaving in October 2022 to join DICE as Senior Design Director for Battlefield 6. He then briefly returned to Ubisoft Toronto in May 2024 as Game Director for an unannounced project in the concept phase, but left again in December 2024 to join Mac Walters at Worlds Untold. This new NetEase-funded developer was, however, quickly shut down when NetEase pulled its support in late 2024.
This year, David Grivel worked as a remote consultant on the upcoming cyberpunk action RPG NEO BERLIN 2087. However, last week, he announced via LinkedIn that he had rejoined the Splinter Cell remake project, once again as its Game Director.
Supposedly, he'll help bring the project over the finishing line. According to earlier rumors, Ubisoft should be targeting a 2026 launch for the Snowdrop Engine-powered remake. The same source, Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson, later added that he saw the game and that it looked impressive.
We don't really know much about the game's details. A job description suggested that Ubisoft was looking to 'rewrite and update' the story for a modern audience, although it is unclear whether that direction was maintained amidst the shuffling of directors.
Still, following the successful return of Solid Snake with the remake of Metal Gear Solid 3, fans of stealth action games will definitely be happy to see his old frenemy Sam Fisher coming back, too. Moreover, the Splinter Cell Remake could be the third big remake of a classic Ubisoft title to launch in 2026, following Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (supposedly due next month) and Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (seemingly set for a March 2026 release).
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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