Splinter Cell easter egg in The Division 2 DLC spurs speculation for a new game

Bear witness

A Splinter Cell easter egg is waiting in the shadows of The Division 2’s latest DLC, and it’s sparking speculation that Ubisoft may return to the stealth series.
Reddit user LordLoucorn spotted a familiar face in the arcade on Coney Island. Well, it’s a teddy wearing Sam Fisher’s trifocal goggles, while hiding in the roof of the building. Ubisoft is wont to reference its games inside its games, like an arcade machine for Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon in Watch Dogs 2, or Assassin symbols in Rainbow Six Siege. These are usually a bit of fun, but the company has also put easter eggs in for games that are yet to be announced. 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag talked about the Blume Corporation from 2014’s Watch Dogs, and a poster in The Division 2 might be hinting the setting of the next Assassin’s Creed game.
However, this is only an easter egg, and objects from the Splinter Cell world have popped up in other recent games. There’s a stealth suit and goggles in Far Cry New Dawn, and there’s a crashed plane which is brimming with references to Splinter Cell Blacklist. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey heroine Layla Hassan stumbles across the goggles and muses whether they belong to the Third or Fourth Echelon. We do know that Ubisoft hasn’t left Splinter Cell behind, and promises “new type of experiences” for Fisher fans. CEO Yves Guillemot seemed to be suggesting that these could be in virtual reality, as Ubisoft and Facebook entered agreements that would take Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell into the Oculus portfolio.
Ubisoft Düsseldorf made the escape rooms Escape the Lost Pyramid and Beyond Medusa’s Gate, which are set in Assassin’s Creed Origins and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey respectively. It’s high time that we see a Splinter Cell venture into VR, then, and the studio is actively recruiting for a “different team than the Escape Room VR team.” Its latest project would draw from “one of Ubisoft’s greatest IPs” for an “outstanding story experience” in virtual reality.
Still, nothing has been officially confirmed, so we’ll have to hang fire for now. Also, I think the teddy is cute.