Ubisoft delays Splinter Cell: Conviction, announces new Assassin's Creed @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on January 13, 2010

News: R.U.S.E. has also been delayed and a ton of titles are in development for 2010.

Ubisoft, in their quarterly financial report, has announced that Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction has been delayed once again. Previously set for a February 23 release on the PC and Xbox 360, the game will now be released sometime in April.

The latest adventure of Sam Fisher was not the only game to be delayed by Ubisoft today. Also being pushed back is R.U.S.E., a strategy game for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 that would have been released in March. The game was given a new release date of "Fiscal 2010-2011", which means it will be released anytime between April 1, 2010 and March 31, 2011.

Besides the bad news of delays, Ubisoft had some good news for their investors. In addition to good reviews, Assassin's Creed II also sold a lot of copies. Six million to be exact, since its release in November.

Because of these healthy sales, Ubisoft has announced that "a new episode" in the Assassin's Creed series will be released sometime in 2010 or early 2011 and that it will feature an online multiplayer mode (a first for the series). It's possible that Ubisoft's use of the phrase "a new episode" as opposed to "Assassin's Creed III" could mean the game will be an expansion to AC2. But it's too early to tell.

What's not too early to tell is the rest of Ubisoft's Fiscal 2010-2011 lineup. The company announced they plan to release Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 4, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Driver 5 and Raving Rabbids 4 either this year or early in the next.

Sadly, there was no mention of Ubisoft's long-in-development disaster sim I Am Alive. The company previously said the game would be released in 2010 and I was definitely looking forward to it. In addition to this snub, the report made a vague mention of "abandoned projects" that Ubisoft wouldn't be completing. While it's not confirmed, I Am Alive may be on life support (or worse).

We'll have more soon.