Ubisoft Delays Splinter Cell, Adds New Assassin’s Creed to Early 2011

French publisher Ubisoft has detailed their plans for their fiscal year 2010, which begins in April and will wrap up in March 2011.

Included in those plans are a two-month delay of Splinter Cell: Conviction (damn you, Ubi!), a new Ghost Recon title, and a third full-fledged Assassin’s Creed game. Hot on the heels of November’s acclaimed hit Assassin’s Creed II, I certainly didn’t expect a turnaround so quickly. The press release hints that the new chapter in the series “will be the first…to have an online multiplayer mode.”

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot suggested that Assassin’s Creed II is expected to reach over 9 million copies sold by the end of March 2010, which is quite an achievement for a game that launched only a week after the biggest entertainment launch in history.

Interestingly, while revising their sales targets for FY 2009-2010, Ubisoft stated the sales of their ‘causal’ titles dropped nearly 50%. Since a great chunk of change is contributed to games such as Just Dance and the Petz series, such a dive could signal a consumer shift away from similar projects.

On the Sam Fisher front, Conviction has been showing up around the games press a lot recently. I have a feeling the delay isn’t due to development concerns, but to boost Ubisoft’s financial status in the next fiscal year.

Also included in the release are mentions of the upcoming Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Raving Rabbids 4, a new Driver title, and a delay for strategy title R.U.S.E.

What do you want in new Assassin’s Creed and Driver games? Hit up the comments section below to tell us what you think.

[Via: Ubisoft]

Tags: Assassin's Creed Assassin's Creed II Delay fiscal year 2010 Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands R.U.S.E. Sales figures Splinter Cell: Conviction Ubisoft