Oculus Quest 2 losing Splinter Cell is a gaming tragedy

Ubisoft has just cancelled of Splinter Cell VR title that was expected to launch exclusively on Meta VR headsets.

The news a blow to Oculus Quest 2 owners who have lost out on a potentially awesome VR game. It could have leveraged a beloved franchise along with the budget and expertise a AAA studio like Ubisoft can bring. But it’s also a huge disappointment to Splinter Cell fans. 

The news comes from a Ubisoft earnings call, where CEO Yves Guillemot announced that Splinter Cell VR, Ghost Recon Frontline, and two other unannounced games were getting scrapped. If you want to pore through the details, you'll need to fill in the details to access the call's audio file and skip to the 9.30 mark. 

Ubisoft came to the decision to cancel these games in order to reduce its operational costs and focus on what it believes are its biggest development opportunities. Based on other comments from the same call this most likely refers to franchises such as Rainbow Six and Assassin's Creed as they have outperformed Ubisoft's expectations, as well as opportunities in the mobile gaming space.

Splinter Cell VR was set to be the first new game in the series since the release of Splinter Cell: Blacklist all the way back in 2013. With this game now canned the next time stealth shooter fans are likely to see Sam Fisher return to action is in the Splinter Cell Remake. Although it doesn't have a release date just yet. 

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Back into the shadows

Ubisoft announced Splinter Cell VR in 2020, where it also unveiled plans to deliver Assassin’s Creed VR. Both titles were being developed in collaboration with Meta, with the latter still underway. 

While no platforms were explicitly mentioned at the time many took this partnership to mean that the games would be exclusive to the Quest 2 and upcoming Meta hardware like the long-awaited Project Cambria and rumored Oculus Quest 3. This would align with other similar Meta collaborations, like its work with Capcom to bring Resident Evil 4 VR to the Quest 2 exclusively.

Hopefully the cancellation of Splinter Cell VR isn't a sign of more to come. While the Oculus Quest 2 is a massively popular device (selling almost 15 million units since launch) it could be brought to a halt if other major titles get cancelled too. This includes not only Assassin's Creed VR but GTA San Andreas VR which was announced at the 2021 Meta Gaming showcase and has not been heard from since.

If you're looking for something you can play on your favorite VR headset then check out our picks for the best Oculus Quest 2 games.

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