When Ubisoft didn't show Splinter Cell: Conviction at its last event, people worried a little about how the game might be doing. Fear not — the game's doing great. So great, they say, that Ubisoft just decided it'd be better off releasing it as part of its "2009-2010" lineup instead of in this year's fiscal fourth quarter. You know, to "bolster" next year, as the company said in its fiscal first quarter results statement.
Signs at Ubidays seemed to suggest that the game was undergoing a reworking, though Ubisoft's reps were specifically vague on details. We also heard that a "way too egotistical" Michael Ironside would no longer be returning as the voice of Sam Fisher.
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot elaborated a bit during the company's call to investors:
"We can give him a little bit more time to make sure it can become a huge product," Guillemot said.
Later, he added, "The way we build our [fiscal guidance] plan is always in having a certain number of products... that will not be automatically in the year. It was one of the products that was in what we call the 'risky products'... it's one product that is now leaving to another year, but it doesn't change our plans."
Guillemot defined "risky" as a title for which the company expected high returns, but for which research and development costs are also higher than with other titles.