Some people worry they peaked in high school – but Ubisoft veteran Clint Hocking thinks he reached a summit with the adored 2005 stealth game Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, and he's OK with that. He never wants to make another Splinter Cell game again.
Hocking tells FRVR in a new interview, "I'm just happy to have made a really, really amazing game that's probably the best – I don't think it's my best game –" that title belongs to Far Cry 2, he says, "but I definitely feel like it’s the best Splinter Cell that I could make. And I don't think I could ever do better."
The developer spent a total of nearly 15 years at Ubisoft working on Splinter Cell, Far Cry 2, and, most recently, Assassin's Creed Hexe as its creative director before leaving in February and starting his current studio, Build Machine Games. The developer's quitting in winter was the second time he'd ditched Ubisoft, and he isn't involved in the Splinter Cell remake the publisher is apparently still working on despite too many layoffs this year. Nonetheless, he gives the studio his blessing.
Hocking says about Splinter Cell, "It can live on its own and other people can do what they want." He adds, "It's not my brand. I don't own it. I don't want to own it."
He explains, "I had my fill of Splinter Cell by making it." Hocking says he elected to bleed out 12, 14, 16-hour work days while making Chaos Theory over 20 years ago, telling FRVR, "I was always there because it's what I love to do and it was super engaging."
But all those hours add up. The tally equals enough Splinter Cell for one lifetime. So Hocking concludes, "To me, Splinter Cell is Chaos Theory. It's the best Splinter Cell I can make. It's the last Splinter Cell I ever hope to make." And that's all there is to it.
