After years of rumors and disappointment, Ubisoft's announcement in December 2021 of a full remake of the stealth action classic "Splinter Cell" was great news for long-suffering fans (opens in new tab). However, some of those fans are a bit nervous following the news that David Gribbell, the project's director, has left Ubisoft.

Gribel announced his departure on his LinkedIn (open in new tab) page (via VGC), where he said that after 11 years at Ubisoft, "it's time for a new adventure."

"Eleven years is a long time, and it's next to impossible to sum it up in one post, but I have to say I was lucky," Gribel wrote.

"From Ubisoft Paris ("Ghost Recon Future Soldier") to Ubisoft Toronto ("Splinter Cell Blacklist," "Assassin's Creed Unity," "Far Cry Primal," "5," "6" and "Splinter Cell Remake") I have had the opportunity to work on many of my favorite franchises as a gamer.

Gribel is only one person, and studio employees (even those in leadership positions) are regularly replaced. Still, the reaction to the news was not overly positive. [redditor AceRojo (opens in new tab) writes:" Much of the problem with "Conviction" was the problematic development. I hope they overcome their difficulties."

"First there were serious problems with the Prince of Persia remake, and now this project is starting to have problems too." Oh, well... Aha, it's Ubisoft!"

"I had serious problems with the Prince of Persia remake, and now this project is starting to have problems."

"I always try to be cautiously optimistic, and in the case of this remake, that has been the approach I have taken," wrote Revenant_XV (opens in new tab). But I still had very little faith in the first place because Ubisoft had treated me so badly so many times, and now what little faith I have left is wavering [laughs]." I'm still trying to keep an open mind, but it gets harder when I've seen these warning signs so many times in the past."

A Splinter Cell remake is probably still a long way off, and a recent job posting (opens in new tab) states that the remake will not be a do-over from scratch, but rather "keep the spirit and themes of the original game while making the characters and world more authentic and believable It is made clear that the remake is not a do-over from scratch, but a reworking from the ground up to "make the characters and world more authentic and believable while maintaining the spirit and themes of the original game. While this sounds like a considerable challenge for a game director, Ubisoft said Griebel's departure will not slow things down.

"We can confirm that David Gribbell has left Ubisoft and would like to thank him for his contributions," a Ubisoft spokesperson said in a statement sent to PC Gamer. His departure will not affect the development of the game in any way."