Ubisoft has confirmed that Splinter Cell: Conviction won’t be coming to the PlayStation 3, saying the series has been “historically linked” with Microsoft platforms.
Conviction, the fifth game in the Splinter Cell series, has suffered numerous delays but is apparently back on track with Ubisoft Montreal and is scheduled for release later this year. The game has only been announced for the PC and Xbox 360, however, and in a recent Q&A on the Ubisoft forums the company said it had no plans to release the game on other platforms.
“Splinter Cell: Conviction is a true Microsoft exclusive title and there are no plans to have Splinter Cell: Conviction on other platforms. There are several reasons behind this choice,” the message said. “First of all, Splinter Cell games are historically linked with Microsoft platforms. The first Splinter Cell on the original Xbox was one of the first games to fully exploit the console’s technical possibilities. At that time, Microsoft really believed in the game potential and provided strong support to promote it. So, there is a ‘link of heart’ between the franchise and the platform. Some games are like this (think of Final Fantasy for instance).”
“The second reason behind this choice is purely linked to production,” the explanation continued. “Having a single target platform means that we can optimize the game even further, because we only have one type of – console – hardware to support.”
The second reason makes sense; focusing development on one platform means you can, well, focus on it, bringing all your effort and resources to bear and hopefully coming up with a better game as a result. But the comment about having a historical link to Microsoft confuses me a bit. Correct me if I’m wrong but I believe that every Splinter Cell game prior to Conviction has been released on numerous platforms, including the PS2 and PS3. So where does all that touchy-feely sentiment for Microsoft come from?
Whatever the case, it may not be all bad for PlayStation owners: After watching a promo video that promises to “redefine” the game by making it a faster, more action-oriented title, it appears that Sam Fisher: Ninja of the Future has turned into Sam Fisher: Generic Goon. So you may not actually be missing out on much. Pity.
Source: CVG
