Tom Clancy

It has been revealed that Tom Clancy has passed away in a Baltimore hospital, aged 66. Famous to millions for books such as The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games and The Sum of All Fears, gamers will know him better via titles such as Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell.

Clancy co-founded games studio Red Storm in 1996. Ubisoft purchased the studio in 2000, and since then it has leveraged Clancy's name with a wide range of high-profile titles, including HAWX, EndWar, Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars and several new entries in the Splinter Cell franchise — including Splinter Cell: Blacklist, which launched on Wii U recently. The next game to be published with Clancy's name on the cover is The Division.

Ubisoft has released the following statement:

We are saddened to learn of Tom Clancy's passing and our condolences go out to his family. Tom Clancy was an extraordinary author with a gift for creating detailed, engrossing fictional stories that captivated audiences around the world. The teams at Ubisoft, especially at the Red Storm studio, are incredibly grateful to have collaborated with and learned from him, and we are humbled by the opportunity to carry on part of his legacy through our properties that bear his name.

Although Clancy's involvement with the games that bear his name was probably very slight, they were all infused with his spirit and he will be greatly missed — not just by gamers, but by readers and movie-goers alike.

What's your favourite Clancy title? Let us know by leaving a comment — and posting your own tribute — below.