The gaming community has been demanding Ubisoft for an update on its Splinter Cell game franchise, yet its developers are giving them anything but that.
It started with announcing a new mobile game during Ubisoft Forward early this July, which starred the Splinter Cell star, Sam Fisher.
Just when the gaming community thought this was the closest they’ll ever get to a Splinter Cell title, news updates reveal that Netflix will be making an animated series adaptation about the video game—anything but a new game title.
Splinter Cell TV Series announced.
They'll do anything with Sam fischer except a new Splinter Cell game
— Boba Fetty Wap (@The_Green_Blur) July 30, 2020
Netflix and Ubisoft team up for Splinter Cell series
The exclusive reveal was reported by Variety, noting that the two giants are in for an animated series adaptation about the famed game franchise.
Best known for his work with the John Wick movie series, Derek Kolstad is said to be handling the production as a writer and as an executive producer.
Accordingly, this partnership will have two seasons, with 16 episodes each on Netflix.
Ubisoft and Netflix are teaming up to create an adult animated Splinter Cell series from John Wick writer Derek Kolstad. https://t.co/vy1ruaHW7N pic.twitter.com/3lBoiNqXx4
— IGN (@IGN) July 30, 2020
Ubisoft also echoed the announcement to Polygon, confirming that the “deal is true” and that Splinter Cell will be an anime series.
As to who will the cast will be, reprising the role of Sam Fisher and the others, are still unknown at the time of this writing. It will be interesting though as to who the producers will choose, considering the game franchise does have a very dedicated community base.
Netflix on series adaptation of video games
This isn’t the first time Netflix has tapped the gaming industry for IPs. Accordingly, The Witcher came into the streaming platform following its success in games and, of course, in books. This was also the case for Castlevania.
Although, The Verge notes that Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos, co-CEOs of Netflix, were asked in the past about “mining video games” for their next series idea. Both admitted that the world of video games do have an “incredibly successful worldbuilding,” it isn’t reportedly their “go-to area.”
The media outlet quotes Sarandos, saying:
“I think franchise is active, successful world-building. And video games obviously have a world-building aspect to them, but so do books and so do graphic novels and so do comic books and so does original IP. And really, this is a matter of how well it’s executed.”
Meanwhile, Comicbook reports that the fans of Splinter Cell would rather have a new game title, rather than a Netflix series about it. Accordingly, its avid fan base has been waiting for a new title since 2013, when the last Splinter Cell installation came out.
Featured image courtesy of Ubisoft/YouTube Screenshot