French developer Ubisoft had many games in queue scheduled for a late 2009 and an early 2010 release. But now all those expectations are somewhat shattered, with Ubisoft announcing that Red Steel 2, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction, a new Ghost Recon game and I Am Alive have all been delayed.
This move is believed to be mainly due to the first quarter sales of 2009-10, which were down almost 51 percent compared to sales recorded correspondingly for the same time period last year. Ubisoft cites a slowdown in North American and European Nintendo DS sales, considerably lower back-catalog sales for the PS3 and Xbox 360, and “poorer-than-anticipated market conditions” as the reasons for the slump.
Red Steel 2 and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction which were earlier scheduled for a late 2009 release, will now be released in the first quarter of 2010. Meanwhile, a new Ghost Recon title and I Am Alive, previously slated to release in the first quarter of next year, are now expected to release in the second quarter of 2010.
But some of Ubisoft’s titles are on track to release in the second quarter of fiscal 2009-10. These include Academy of Champions for the Wii, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs for the PS3, Xbox 360, PSP, PC, Wii and Nintendo DS, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the PS2 and Wii and a few new causal titles for the Wii and the Nintendo DS.