A Splinter Cell animated series was announced as a Netflix exclusive last summer, and ever since then, Ubisoft has stayed silent on the next Sam Fisher project. However, according to a recent update provided by series writer Derek Kolstad, there will be plenty of time for game announcements until Splinter Cell sneaks its way onto Netflix.

Kolstad is most famously known as the screenwriter for the John Wick film saga and he’s recently been involved in writing at least a couple of episodes for Disney Plus’ exciting The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Overall, his signature action style was seen as a big plus for spearheading Splinter Cell’s transition into animated territory, a segment that’s become increasingly important for Netflix as it prepares to launch several gaming anime productions like Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness (franchise canon), The Witcher, Assassin’s Creed and Tomb Raider.

Related: 9 Of Sam Fisher’s Best Quips From The Splinter Cell Series

In a recent exclusive with Collider, Kolstad gave a thorough update of how the animated Splinter Cell’s development is going, explaining a 2021 release is out of the question for the show due to its 18-24 months production process. Kolstad did confirm that the first season would span across eight episodes ranging between a 20-30 minute runtime, while flaunting his gamer credentials by referencing the stealth mechanics in the original Thief game.

Splinter Cell is officially greenlit for its first season, though Netflix’s own aim would put the series as a two season 16 episode deal for now. From a creative standpoint Kolstad highlighted the differences in writing something like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Splinter Cell, given how on the latter his screenplay can simply be left to be adapted by artists more freely over the lengthy animation process.

One defining approach the Splinter Cell series will definitely take is keeping each potential season almost completely detached from each other, mainly focusing on a bigger mission that would help Sam Fisher evolve as a character rather than being tied down to a subsequent series of events within a single timeline like in Splinter Cell: Double Agent.

Given that Splinter Cell won’t land on Netflix until at least 2022, that leaves ample time for Ubisoft to decide what to do with Sam Fisher, aside from treating him as a microtransaction trinket. The stealth action video game genre feels somewhat lacking without Splinter Cell and Metal Gear Solid, so it's the perfect time to launch a new game that would benefit from the free mass marketing boost Netflix is bound to give it.

Next: Assassin's Creed Valhalla Complete Guide And Walkthrough

Source: Collider