In 2013, Eric Johnson provided the voice and motion capture for the character in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist.

During a sketching session, Caya came up with the idea of a "dark silhouette hiding in the shadows, and the only thing visible would be the reflection of some lights bouncing off the lenses of some night vision goggles."

When writing the character, J. T. Petty wrote him to have "wry, detached humor," alongside dialogue meant to convey "the confidence of a man comfortably past his prime but none the worse for wear.

In Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist, he is the leader of the "Fourth Echelon", and he is designed with his goggles and wet suit.

Fisher interrogated their leader, discovering Nikoladze went back to Georgia to activate The Ark, which turns out to be a nuclear suitcase bomb placed somewhere in the United States.

[4] An alternate version of Sam Fisher appears in the 2023 animated series Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix.

[5] Sam Fisher has been generally well received since his appearance in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, being hailed as one of the biggest characters on Xbox and one of the console's synonyms in 2002, with praise going to the characterization used by Microsoft Game Studios and Ubisoft.

[6][7][8][9] In 2008, PC Zone staff felt that Fisher started as an iconic character, but the "genuine lack of imagination" let him down.

[10] Although Fisher ultimately did not make the cut, Game Informer staff considered his inclusion in their "30 characters that defined a decade" collection, with writer Bryan Vore stating that while he may seem like "a poor man's Solid Snake," his "quiet and deadly efficiency, gruff yet sarcastic demeanor, and the willingness to disobey orders he doesn't believe in" set him apart.