The project involved more than just a remake.
In 2017 Ubisoft began work on a new entry in the Splinter Cell franchise but soon shelved the project and never presented it to the public, AdHoc co‑founder Nick Herman told Bloomberg.
Herman — who, together with Pierre Shoret and Dennis Lenart, moved to Ubisoft from Telltale Games — was immediately assigned to the Splinter Cell initiative.
I was excited by the opportunity to take part in this project and help revive a franchise that had been in limbo for a long time. We believed we could produce a great story that fans would embrace.
During the first six months work progressed intensely — the team was convinced they would deliver something exceptional. But Ubisoft soon revised its direction, reshaping the project to align with live‑service trends. Developers experimented with turning Splinter Cell into a narrative‑led multiplayer experience and built several prototypes, but none proved successful. In the end the company lost interest and the effort morphed into xDefiant — a shooter that was closed about a year after launch.
Source: iXBT.games