The 2017 New Splinter Cell Game That Ultimately Became Ubisoft’s xDefiant

In 2017, Nick Herman, Dennis Lenart, and Pierre Shorette, three developers who had previously worked together on Tales from the Borderlands at Telltale Games, joined Ubisoft. According to Bloomberg’s reporting referenced across multiple sources, the trio began work on a new Splinter Cell game shortly after they arrived. Herman described being excited to help bring the stealth franchise back after its long absence, saying, “I was so excited to be a part of this and help revitalize it.” He also said the team believed they could “tell a great story and do something the fans would love.”

During this time, Ubisoft leadership was increasingly focused on expanding live-service development across its catalog. As that priority grew, the Splinter Cell project was pushed toward a games-as-a-service direction. The developers attempted to adjust by experimenting with ways to combine their narrative focus with a service-based structure. Herman explained that they tried to build “a narrative GAAS game,” and the team created several prototypes while attempting to make that concept function.

As Ubisoft increased its focus on pursuing success similar to Call of Duty, interest in the original Splinter Cell plan declined. Over time, the project changed substantially and eventually turned into what later launched as xDefiant. Before release, xDefiant spent extensive time in internal playtests and was at one point associated with the Tom Clancy brand, creating an indirect connection to Ubisoft’s other Clancy-related series. The shooter launched in 2024 but shut down roughly a year later, despite reaching over 15 million players. Its closure also resulted in layoffs that affected two Ubisoft studios.

According to Herman, the first months of work were encouraging because the team felt they were building something of value. He said that priorities at the company eventually moved in a different direction, and the parts of the project that mattered to the team no longer matched what management wanted. He characterized this kind of shift as a frequent occurrence in game development.

Herman, Lenart, and Shorette left Ubisoft in 2018 and founded AdHoc Studio with another former Telltale colleague, Michael Choung. While establishing the studio, they worked on an early version of what would become Dispatch and took on a scriptwriting role for The Wolf Among Us 2. They later exited that project after completing an 800-page script due to concerns about a lack of creative control.

AdHoc eventually completed Dispatch with support from a publisher and a cast selected by casting director Linda Lamontagne. A last-minute deal with Critical Role for another game also helped the studio finish development. When Dispatch released, it sold 1 million copies within 10 days.

Public discussion has included disagreement about the origins of xDefiant. Producer Mark Rubin stated on his personal X account that the shooter did not begin as a Splinter Cell project. Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier responded that Rubin joined Ubisoft in 2019, two years after Herman, Lenart, and Shorette had already been working on their Splinter Cell concept.The Splinter Cell series has not seen a new mainline release since Splinter Cell: Blacklist in 2013. Ubisoft previously confirmed a remake of the 2002 original, but the company has provided no updates since 2022. Meanwhile, Dispatch continues to release episodic content, and early assessments describe the first episodes as engaging, with particular focus on the lead character’s personal life.