Ubisoft Montreal originally pitched Splinter Cell as a James Bond game, the studio has revealed.
Speaking to IGN, an ex-Ubisoft developer confirmed that after its action game, The Drift, was threatened of being canceled, the dev studio "made an attempt to impress the [007] license holder" with a Bond-centric spy game.
The pitch didn't pan out, and after working in the Tom Clancy license, the project eventually morphed into Splinter Cell, one of the most recognized and beloved stealth franchises in the industry.
While the Splinter Cell series is great and all, I really would like to see how a tried-and-true James Bond stealth game would turn out. Ubisoft, make it happen!