Overview
- Bloomberg’s report, citing former developer Nick Herman, says Ubisoft San Francisco worked for months in 2017 on a new Splinter Cell before plans changed.
- Herman describes management pressure to add live-service systems, with the team prototyping a “narrative GaaS” approach that never took hold.
- Ubisoft then pivoted toward a Call of Duty–style multiplayer focus, with the effort evolving into XDefiant, which launched in 2024 and was shut down in June 2025.
- Coverage notes layoffs tied to the shutdown and reports that Ubisoft San Francisco later closed following XDefiant’s failure.
- XDefiant producer Mark Rubin publicly disputes that the shooter began as Splinter Cell, while the departed developers founded AdHoc Studio, released the hit Dispatch, and Ubisoft Toronto continues work on an official Splinter Cell remake.