Splinter Cell (Xbox 360 / PS3) Lacks Conviction, Delayed Until Fiscal 2009-2010

After Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction no-showed E3 last week, it led to natural speculation (given the game's rocky development history to date) that the title has been delayed yet again. Today, Ubisoft confirmed that very fact while reporting the company's fiscal Q1 sales (ending June 30th).




During the conference call in conjunction with the press release, CEO Yves Guillemot commented, "Splinter Cell is a very important franchise for Ubisoft and we have high anticipation for this game. It is a major product and we want it to be able to catch all the gameplay opportunities it is offering to us today. There are lots of opportunities that we want to take and so that is why we can give [them] a little bit more time to make sure it can become a huge product."

This latest delay now places release of the game in fiscal 2009-10, which means that it could see release anytime between April 1st, 2009 and March 31st, 2010. It also seemingly validates at least some rumors that the game is being reworked significantly, some of which have included Ubisoft ditching the game's original engine, to a re-working of the gameplay the game was to feature (that is, hiding by blending in with crowds ala Assassin's Creed).