Ubisoft stops development of Splinter Cell VR
Work on Splinter Cell VR has been discontinued. This is a blow to the Meta Quest 2 game portfolio.
Ubisoft has canceled development on Splinter Cell VR, Ghost Recon Frontline, and two other as-yet-unannounced games. The news was spread by game journalist Stephen Totilo via Twitter.
Ubisoft has canceled development of Splinter Cell VR and Ghost Recon Frontline (and two other unannounced games)
- Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) July 21, 2022
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot announced the end of Splinter Cell VR in a conference call on the latest quarterly results. The official financial report cites current economic uncertainties and cost optimization as the reason. The publisher wants to focus on more promising projects, according to Gamesradar.
Assassin's Creed VR apparently still in development
The first rumors about Splinter Cell VR surfaced in the summer of 2019. The Information reported that Facebook was planning to invest more than $1 billion in new VR games, including VR spin-offs of Splinter Cell and Assassin's Creed.
The games were then announced at Facebook Connect in fall 2020. Since Meta has stopped developing PC VR games, the two titles were most likely destined for the Quest platform.
Meta did not name a release year, nor did it show images or video footage, indicating that the projects are in early stages.
Work on Assassin's Creed VR is apparently continuing. In April, the first details leaked out about the game, which will be called Assassin's Creed Nexus and is scheduled for release in 2023.
Meta loses important prestige project
It is unclear why Splinter Cell VR in particular was affected since the development was probably funded by Meta. Perhaps Ubisoft wanted to use its resources for other, more important projects. In addition, Meta itself will have to take cost-cutting measures, since the advertising market will likely drop significantly in an economic downturn.
Splinter Cell VR was one of Meta's big prestige projects, alongside Assassin's Creed VR and GTA: San Andreas. The game's demise is a blow to the company and Quest fans, who have been eagerly awaiting VR titles with a major license since Resident Evil 4.
The Meta Quest Gaming Showcase, which showcased the gaming highlights for the next 12 months, featured mostly sequels, indie titles, and DLCs. Only Ghostbusters VR stood out.
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