14 DAY TRIAL // We live in some very tough times and the recession is making game development very hard. After a lot of big names in the industry have begun to take some drastic cost-cutting measures and laid off quite a big part of their staff, it seems that great games won't appear anytime soon. But Ubisoft isn't worried as it has just announced its lineup for the next fiscal year, which starts in April 2009 and ends in March 2010.
Although it is dominated by new iterations in some of its famous franchises, there are a couple of new titles that might attract a lot of gamers. First and foremost, it seems that the Assassin's Creed sequel will appear shortly, despite claims from various Ubisoft representatives that the next title won't be released anytime soon. Another sequel, this time to the popular Red Steel Nintendo Wii title, will also be released in the near future, and, as a bonus, it seems that support for the Wii Motion Plus might come with the game.
The company is still exploiting Tom Clancy, as new iterations in the popular Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon series will be launched next year, but new ideas will also take shape, as I Am Alive, the new action survival game, along with two other fresh IPs, will be launched in the near future. Targeted for a more casual market, four new movie-based games, including James Cameron's Avatar and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, will appear, alongside new DS titles in the Imagine and Petz franchises.
“2009-10 looks very promising and our teams are working flat-out to provide gamers with the best the industry has to offer,” said Ubisoft president Yves Guillemot. “Our line-up comprises several potential blockbusters with the launch of seven franchises, including Assassin's Creed, Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon, as well as four license-based games including James Cameron's Avatar, three new brands and a further-enhanced casual games portfolio. Although we have to be cautious in light of the current economic environment, we expect Ubisoft to once again be one of the most dynamic and profitable publishers in the games industry in 2009.”
All in all, it seems like Ubisoft will make a very large profit in the next fiscal year, as the sequels guarantee big sales, and the new games might be turned into franchises in the long term. As the casual market is still shaping up quite nicely with the DS franchises, the French company might not feel the impact of the recession.