Tom Clancy, the first name in political and military thrillers, died today at the age of 66. Most gamers will recognise him as the name that graced preceded numerous Ubisoft titles over the years, including Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon.
Tom Clancy was actually heavily involved in gaming before he ever came to be associated with Ubisoft. He started his own game studio in 1996, known as Red Storm Entertainment, and while it was in operation, it released games like the original Rainbow 6, and Ghost Recon before being bought by Ubisoft in 2000. That didn’t stop the Tom Clancy train though, as Ubisoft continued a partnership with the author, getting his endorsement for new titles like the Splinter Cell series. In 2008, Ubisoft even went so far as to buy his name for future use in subsequent games, like the upcoming The Division.
Of course, outside of gaming is where Clancy really made his name, as a novelist, with his first big hit, The Hunt for Red October. The book, a cold war era story about a defecting Soviet Sub commander, has been turned into a film as well as numerous submarine combat games. He is described as having died shortly after illness at the Johns Hopkins Hospital near his home in Baltimore.
