The gaming industry saw a huge bump in popularity in the early 2000s and 2010s. These times introduced many new advancements in graphics and innovation when it came to developing mechanics for gamers to play around with. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell was one of the many video game franchises that was able to make a name for itself during this period of game development.
The video game series came to an end with Splinter Cell: Blacklist, which was a reboot of the franchise, but ended up almost killing it instead. The game, released in 2013, had many problems that fans who have been following the series for long did not like, and one of them was how the studio was not able to find a worthy replacement for the main character’s voice cast.
How A Change Of Cast Almost Killed The Splinter Cell Franchise
The video game series focuses on the character of Sam Fisher, a deadly trained agent who is a member of a black ops division called the Third Echelon. Fisher is often considered an icon in the world of video games and has been voiced by Michael Ironside ever since the first game came out.
Unfortunately, with the reboot underway, the original VA was replaced with Eric Johnson to voice the character of Sam Fisher for several reasons, one of them being how Ironside was growing older and had to battle cancer at the time. Fans are now hoping that the original VA would come back once again in the upcoming remake of the first Splinter Cell game, announced by the studio back in 2021.
Those who are wondering how a change of cast brings a sudden downfall of a franchise need to realize it is not just the voice that the star contributes to the character, but instead helps bring them to life at the same time. In Sam Fisher’s case, every fan of the franchise had grown to like the voice of Ironside whenever the character came on screen, eventually leading to criticism when Eric Johnson came in as the replacement for the character.
How The Cast Plays A Huge Role In Determining The Success Of A Franchise
There are a lot of factors that come together when determining the success of a video game, and one such factor is who is behind the voice of certain characters in the storyline. If we look at Ranni the Witch, a significant NPC in Hidetaka Miayzaki’s Elden Ring, we get to know how the role was played by none other than Aimee-Ffion Edwards, an actress who not only stars in the popular show Peaky Blinders but has also had voice acting gigs in other video game series such as Assassin’s Creed and Xenoblade Chronicles.
However, as witnessed in Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, casting choices, especially replacing ones, are not usually received well by the community. Michael Ironside has had a long run in the whole series voicing the character of Sam Fisher, and the news of his replacement was met with criticism by the players of the game. Another similar incident for example would be how players showed their disappointment when the cast of Sephiroth was changed in the Final Fantasy franchise.
Before 2020, the iconic character of Sephiroth in the video game series was being voiced by George Newbern, a cast that was beloved by many fans. Ultimately, the original voice actor was replaced by none other than Tyler Hoechlin, an actor known for his role as Superman in CW’s Superman and Lois, receiving great criticism from the fans.
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist is available to purchase on Steam.
