One of the greatest game series of all time to return after 12 years – on Netflix

It's been 12 years and two console generations since we last had a major Splinter Cell game. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist was released on PS3, Xbox 360 and, ahem, Nintendo WiiU back in 2013 and we've had barely a peek at Sam Fisher's night vision goggle's since.

There have been mobile outings and novels in the meantime, but Ubisoft has remained tightlipped on a possible return to our small screens. Until now, that is.

Fisher's return has been confirmed by the games publisher – although not in the format we expected. Splinter Cell: Deathwatch is "coming soon"... to Netflix.

Yep, rather than an actual game, Netflix will stream a new animated series starring the voice talents of Liev Schreiber (X-Men: Origins, Ray Donovan) as the legendary agent, and the show has been created by the man behind John Wick, Derek Kolstad, so that makes it even more intriguing.

Splinter Cell: Deathwatch | Official Announcement | Geeked Week '24 | Netflix - YouTube

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Both Ubisoft and Netflix have shared a teaser trailer that doesn't give away much, but it does reveal that the show is imminent. We should see in debut on the streaming service soon.

As for a new game, who knows? There were reports a few years ago that Ubisoft was to remake the original 2002 Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, but things have gotten quiet since then.

The publisher is currently attending Gamescom in Germany but hasn't revealed much else about the franchise. If the animated series is a success though, maybe that'll prompt it to look at the project again – or even consider a whole new game.

Let's hope so, we've gone far too long without one of the best stealth action franchises being updated for modern machines. Maybe it'll even make it in time for the launch of PS6 and Xbox Next (or whatever it ends up being called).