Ubisoft denies Conviction redesign

By Robert Purchese Published 20 May, 2008

Splinter Cell rumours are "pure speculation".

Ubisoft has dismissed rumours that Splinter Cell Conviction is heading back to the drawing board as speculation.

The publisher was responding to a report in Xbox World 360 magazine that claimed the game was being redesigned because it wasn't groundbreaking enough, and had even been outdated by Ubisoft titles such as Assassin's Creed.

The rumours suggested that Conviction would go back into development and be given a fresh release date of Christmas 2009 - or even spring 2010.

Not so, said Ubsioft, telling Eurogamer the report is "pure speculation".

Splinter Cell Conviction was revealed last year at the Paris-based publisher event UbiDays. The 2008 show takes place next week.

The fifth instalment in the sneaky Sam Fisher series does away with all the gadgets and casts you in a fugitive role where you will have to use your surroundings to survive: blend with crowds, throw tables at ice creams at people, that sort of thing.

It hasn't been seen for a while, now, but pop over to our Splinter Cell Conviction gamepage for all of the information to date.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (36) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • muscleblade #1 4 years ago

    I believe this to be more than just rumour and speculation.

  • Negotiator #2 4 years ago

    "blend with crowds, throw tables at ice creams at people, that sort of thing."

    Rob have you passed your GCSE in English?

  • kissthestick #3 4 years ago

    so.... a 2008 release is pretty much laughable now right?

  • muscleblade #4 4 years ago

    Isnt this a 360 exclusive btw?

  • sergeantdisco #5 4 years ago

    2010 eh? At least it gives me time to finish Double Agent, fecking time limits.

  • QPRHOOPS81 #6 4 years ago

    and PC i think

  • space_ace #7 4 years ago

    convincing speculation

  • Steroyd #8 4 years ago

    Eh? Conviction sounds like Hitman. :/

    Oh stealth games where art thee?

  • Vordred #9 4 years ago

    "claimed the game was being redesigned because it wasn't groundbreaking enough, and had even been outdated by Ubisoft titles such as Assassin's Creed."

    that wasn't quite the rumor i had seen going about, the one i had seen was that they were going to redo it to be like the old one, basicly making it Chaos Theory 2. which i would be quite happy with.

    i will still get the new one, but i still think they should have done a Chaos Theory 2, as turning splinter cell into assassins creed seem a bit pointless to me

  • oceanmotion #10 4 years ago

    I thought it was because Assassins Creed's crowd dynamic was basically shit so why bother doing it to another franchise.

  • JonFE #11 4 years ago

    I have to admit I liked what I saw in the original trailer, so I'll be gutted if they actually turn it into a conventional SC game instead. However the lack of commitment to a release date implies development trouble.

  • Wash #12 4 years ago

    I think the setting is quite cool, not so sure abandoning what made the series what is, is a good idea. Ohh well, splinter cell lost it way for me a little with the last release.

  • Bitkari #13 4 years ago

    They just need to combine the single player of Chaos Theory with the multiplayer of Pandora Tomorrow for guaranteed bucketsful of win.

  • Tyronne #14 4 years ago

    Did wonder why it had gone so quiet about this title, maybe there is a hint of truth to the story.

  • asphaltcowboy #15 4 years ago

    Gah! Don't turn it back into a traditional SC game! Double Agent was so fresh and revitalising to the series!

  • sergeantdisco #16 4 years ago

    More like Chaos Theory than what I've seen so far of Double Agent and I'd be happy.

    Splinter Cell should be about creeping around in the dark in a bank/ship/other generic corridory place. I only want crowds if they can be byopassed with a handy crawl space.

  • anomagnus #17 4 years ago

    push back to 2010 says to me-REDESIGN , more than tweaking
    Edited by 1 at 20/05/08 @ 10:38

  • NickD7 #18 4 years ago

    Chaos Theory is the best stealth game ever made, better than every MGS game to date. I have faith in Montreal team. But I don't really want to be throwing ice creams at people as I sneak around looking like a hobo and stabbing people with my hobo knife. Go back to the cool old style please with the three green lights and sneaking suit.

    Hobo Sam has to go

  • muscleblade #19 4 years ago

    "complaining about how ea make sequels while rarely changing anything"

    This has nothing to to with EA.

  • Calgon #20 4 years ago

    We will see next week then... I think it was bogus(someone may have been wondering why there's been no sign of it for ages probably took a guess) because if they were going to delay it, they'd have said "no comment" with the conference so near.

  • HolyJebus #21 4 years ago

    Ha, he sure did completely, utterly, totally miss your point.

  • The-Bodybuilder #22 4 years ago

    I fully agree with JSPOOLE on this one. Gamers are fickle and bloody annoying.
    The latest concept sounded great and interesting. Yes Hashashin's creed was a dissapointment, but that was due to the repetition, not the core gameplay mechanics. The game was AAA....for the first few hours.

    When this was announced, most were genuingly happy, but now all I can hear is that people want the same of the old, yet will cry and whinge at GTA "4" being more of the same, or "GOW 1.5", blah blah blah.

    Screw Chaos Theory, it was fantastic, but SC peaked at that. Anything similar would just be a bloody rehash. Ubisoft want to do something different, but everyone's moaning? Yet they are probably the same people that moaned about Vegas 2 or GRAW2.

  • XAleX360 #23 4 years ago

    When a software house comments this fast, this close to a showing "pure speculation" on a rumour, it is clear that they are rejecting it and not simply hiding behind it. I still have hope for Sam's coming in holiday 2008

  • BobsUncle #24 4 years ago

    I know Splinter Cell was first (Obviously) and Double Agent was last, but what order were the two middle ones in?

    I do remember that the one before Double Agent was awesome, the multiplayer was epic and my mate and I used to play one on one games which lasted for nearly an hour at a time. Which is why I was a little let down by DA.

  • samk #25 4 years ago

    Double Agent was the first Splinter Cell that I didn't even finish once. Personally I hope the redesign rumours are true. I never liked the direction they had planned for the next one; blending into crowds and using objects you find as weapons, bollocks to that, give me a silenced rifle and a load of high-tech 24-style gadgetry, and let me sneak around infiltrating facilities and taking down terrorists.

  • djed #26 4 years ago

    @ Negotiator

    He's talking about advanced, high-level puzzle solving. Throwing tables at ice creams will put the ice creams in a state of "at" (from greek atara, meaning "anticonsumation";) where the ice creams will eat the people. It's all very next-gen, really.

  • anomagnus #27 4 years ago

    i have to say, the thought of splinter cell without the gadgets doesn't appeal to me

    if the next series of 24 involved jack in a knitwear competition, we'd be disappointed. (i'm sure someone will make a smart comment)

    its too much of a change. splinter cell is about hi tech espionage, not homeless guy with chip on shoulder uses tin can to topple crooked government

  • Vordred #28 4 years ago

    "I know Splinter Cell was first (Obviously) and Double Agent was last, but what order were the two middle ones in?"

    Splinter Cell (2002 by Ubisoft Montreal)

    Spinter Cell : Pandora Tomorrow (2004 by Ubisoft Paris)

    Splinter Cell : Chaos Theory (2005 by Ubisoft Montreal) considerd by most to be the best

    Splinter Cell :Double Agent (2006 by Ubisoft Shanghai)

    Splinter Cell : Conviction (???? by Ubisoft Montreal)

  • davisorle #29 4 years ago

    Now that kind of news SUCK

  • CopperheadTM #30 4 years ago

    You can't change the essence of what makes Splinter Cell what it is and still call it "Splinter Cell." Everything went wrong after the Iceland mission at the start of Double Agent. Afterwards every level, press release, rumor and speculation has made true SC fans cringe.

    There's a big difference between releasing the same game (a little changed) every year and making the next FIFA game about Ice-Hockey.

  • CopperheadTM #31 4 years ago

    You, Sir, must be the most mature person on here.

    The series isn't being refreshed it's being made more accessible larger group by dumbing it down and changing it. Don't like Splinter Cell's gameplay? Don't play Splinter Cell.

    And f*ck you, too.

  • DAN.E.B #32 4 years ago

    all i want is the co op from chaos theory and im sold

  • Rodney #33 4 years ago

    How exactly does one 'hide in plain sight'?

  • Rodney #34 4 years ago

    yeah, I was just playing. hiding in plane sight just sounds oxymoronic.

    I loved Chaos Theory but it did feel like series was starting to become a bit stale. Double Agent was a welcome change but the sneeking around in broad day light felt a bit ridiculous at times.

    Its good Ubisoft are trying something new with the franchise,I liked the idea of the lost in the crowd mechanic but it did sound like it had slightly lost sight of what made the old splinter cell so great to play.

    Looking forward to this so I hope the rumours are unfounded.



  • samk #35 4 years ago

    Regardless of whether SC allows you to hide only in shadows or expanding it to broad daylight, that's not the issue for some of us. If they want to expand upon how you're able to hide, then great.

    But people like myself didn't DA and probably won't like the next one because of this 'blending in with crowds' etc stuff. That's a pretty marked change of direction from the previous games in the series. There was still plenty of room and scope for a progression in the series after Chaos Theory without removing lots of the gadgets and shooting.

    JSPOOLE - seriously dude, tone down on the ranting and raving just because people don't share your opinion.

  • CopperheadTM #36 4 years ago

    Insulting others because you can't argue or deal with your own insecurities and incompetencies is a sign of a weak mind.

    What a well written arguement, JSPOOLE. "I want to play more Hitman and Assassin's Creed, so make SC more like those games."

    And to see how they're dumbing it down just read the preview on this very site.

    The instruction booklet for Splinter Cell: Double Agent describes 29 different actions Sam Fisher can perform. There are individual sub-sections later on dealing with hacking, safe-cracking, mine assembly, email decryption, and bomb-defusal. Overall, the game uses every single button on the Xbox 360 pad several times over.

    Splinter Cell: Conviction apparently uses three.

    ...

    Part of this is out of a desire to make the game "more accessible", says Ferland, who rues the fact that many of his friends simply found the game too hard to play in previous iterations.


    It IS being dumbed down.

    And for the record I don't play and have never played any EA Sports games.

  • Rodney #37 4 years ago

    That is a worry. Splinter Cell has never really been that difficult, you just need to learn how to play the game by its own rules.

    Im not keen on the minimal buttons, contextual senstive control schemes. wasnt the combat in assasins creed only two buttons, but context sensitve, if I remember correctly (I gave up after the first few repetitive assisinations)

    I think Fable 2 is going down this route as well, one button combat.

    Try new things with Splinter Cell, but keep it Splinter Cell in spirit. I want new stealth mechanics but I want gadgets too