12-Year-Old Splinter Cell Game Receives Steam Achievements

Ubisoft added Steam achievements to 2013’s Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist, a stealth action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Toronto and published by Ubisoft.

The official announcement on the Steam page of Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist Events explains that achievements will be retroactively granted for previously completed accomplishments in the game. To enable synchronization, players need to launch the game at least once. After syncing, any Ubisoft Connect achievements that were already unlocked will automatically be unlocked on Steam. Additionally, 19 achievements that depended on now-defunct online services have been removed to ensure that players can still achieve 100% completion of the Steam achievements.

In the sequel to Splinter Cell: Conviction and the seventh installment of the Splinter Cell series, players take on the role of Sam Fisher, an elite operative with the Fourth Echelon, tasked to thwart the Engineers, a terrorist organization attempting to force the United States to withdraw all of its overseas military forces.

As of the time of writing, the game featured 28 Steam achievements:

• Asset Retrieval: Complete Safehouse on any difficulty
• Distraction Tactician: Call an enemy over, then take them down undetected when they investigate
• Mission Footprint Zero: Complete a single-player mission without being detected during gameplay
• Ambush Escaped: Complete Insurgent Stronghold on any difficulty
• C&C Optimized: Fully upgrade your headquarters
• Infiltration Operator: Complete all Fourth Echelon Missions from Anna Grímsdóttir
• Fourth Echelon Status Confirmed: Complete the single-player campaign
• American Fuel Engaged: Complete LNG Terminal on any difficulty
• Paladin Restored: Survive the attack on Paladin
• Infiltration/Interrogation: Complete Detention Facility on any difficulty
• American Freedom Averted: Complete Transit Yards on any difficulty
• Iranian Intel Retrieved: Complete Special Missions HQ on any difficulty
• Tracker Placed: Complete Abandoned Mill on any difficulty
• Terrorist Factor Turned: Complete Private Estate on any difficulty
• American Consumption Prevented: Complete American Consumption on any difficulty
• Hunter Operator: Complete all Fourth Echelon Missions from Andriy Kobin
• Hostages Secured: Save the hostages in the Transit Yards
• Hostile Shield Secured Take down a Shielded Infantryman hand to hand and take his shield
• Enhanced Lethality Demonstrated: Using Mark & Execute, take down six enemies in under 14 seconds
• Tactical Style: Ghost: Master Ghost playstyle on seven missions
• Tri-Rotor Functionality: Disable a security device using the Tri-Rotor
• No Kill Option Engaged: Complete the single-player campaign without killing anyone, as Sam Fisher
• Evidence Concealed: Hide five bodies in containers
• Tactical Style: Assault: Master Assault playstyle on seven missions
• Tactical Style: Panther: Master Panther playstyle on seven missions
• Fourth Echelon Officer: Complete every single player mission on Perfectionist difficulty
• Fourth Echelon Commendation: Complete every single-player mission on Realistic difficulty
• Extraction Operator: Complete all Fourth Echelon Missions from Charlie Cole

Despite receiving positive reviews, with an average Metacritic score over 80, the game did not meet Ubisoft’s initially projected sales targets of around 5 million units. It had sold approximately 2 million copies across all platforms by November 2013. No updated sales figures have been released since then.​

As of now, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist features a “Mostly Positive” Steam rating with 17,429 reviews. Notably, the game’s all-time peak of 6,146 was achieved 11.7 years ago.