Ubisoft delays new Driver game

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 12 July, 2010

Splinter Cell: Conviction sells loads.

Driver: San Francisco has been delayed until 2011, Ubisoft has confirmed.

The open world driving game had been due out in the UK on 26th November for PC, PS3, Wii and Xbox 360. Ubisoft said the delay was due to "the competitive market at Christmas".

Splinter Cell: Conviction, released earlier this year, has sold 1.9 million units. Ubisoft reckons Sam Fisher's impressive performance, with help from Just Dance, Assassin's Creed 2 and Avatar, have generated €9 million more than the €145 million it estimated it would make in sales for the first quarter of 2010-11.

Looking to the second quarter, Ubisoft said it will release H.A.W.X. 2 and R.U.S.E., and expects sales of around €83 million.

Ubisoft reconfirmed it expects to return to profitable growth and positive cash flow when it reports its full year 2010-11 financials.

Estimated sales for the first quarter 2010-11, which ended on 30th June, were above the target of €160 million. They were up 93 per cent on the €83 million recorded for the first quarter 2009-10.

Big boss man Yves Guillemot said: "Our sales performance this quarter reflects the success of several titles and attests to the quality of our game catalogue. It's proof of Ubisoft's ability to make its mark in an ever demanding videogames sector.

"This year's E3 further confirmed the potential for our end-of-year line-up, demonstrating how varied and distinct our offering is. Proven franchises such as Assassin's Creed, Driver or Ghost Recon will offer unique experiences for seasoned gamers. In particular, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood should allow us to reaffirm our position as one of the industry's best multiplayer developers.

"The pre-orders are the strongest ever seen, already 20 per cent above those from the same period last year, even before the awards announced following E3. In the casual segment, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved, Just Dance 2 or Michael Jackson: The Experience, which has generated particularly promising media coverage, are expected to attract a large number of casual players. Finally, thanks to the investments made, we will offer a rich line-up of both online games and new titles for the upcoming hardware launches this fiscal year."

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About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (17) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • BlinxHDD #1 2 years ago

    Must be a lot of unsold copies of Conviction in stores.

  • bdc #2 2 years ago

    Delaying games despite being completed is something I can never agree with :/

  • oceanmotion #3 2 years ago

    How so, don't want to see good titles getting poor sales because of some mega hit like Call of Duty or something sucking up the cash. It happens all the time. Too many decent titles getting released at the same time. Might need extra polish as well, it is Ubisoft after all.

  • bad09 #4 2 years ago

    "It's proof of Ubisoft's ability to make its mark in an ever demanding videogames sector."

    Oh don't worry Yves you made your mark alright. Becoming the most hated publisher on the PC platform is some good going that deserves recognition.

    How's that share price by the way Yves, still falling?

  • bostec #5 2 years ago

    I hope thee share price falls so bad, its one of my turds that decides to backsplash me.

  • SilentNinja92 #6 2 years ago

    Fair enough if they want to give each game a good gap for sales.

    If youve not got conviction yet, get it. easily one of my favourite games this gen, and the splitscreen co-op play is beggars belief. really good co-op campaign with great challanges and other modes to play alone or with friends. Didnt think Id see such great co op from them again after Rainbow six which was great, but this took it to a whole new level!!!

    Im not sure about Driver though, it'll haveto be something pretty special to combat GTA4 and red dead. I hope it uses the farcry 2 engine though that thing produces really nice visuals.

  • MaxiSleep #7 2 years ago

    The entire premise of the new driver is so wacked that it will either be brilliant or one of the worst games of the gen. I am predicting the latter :)

  • gnrlstuart #8 2 years ago

    im an ubisoft rep working on a new title for pc, it's called D.R.M , you may have heard of it.

  • starbug1978 #9 2 years ago

    Please don't bother, the last one was pish

  • coomber #10 2 years ago

    Just finished Conviction today. Mediocrity dressed up in fancy graphics (which actually interfere with your ability to play the game). Bit like the original Assassin's Creed.

  • Vroom #11 2 years ago

    Actually Earl it was called Driv3r. Jeez what a noob!

    JOKE! :)

    Seriously though. If the devs have more time with it then that can only be a good thing considering the rush-jobs Driver 3 and 2 were.

  • Moribundman #12 2 years ago

    @coomber I'd be slightly more generous but not a whole lot. Conviction was too short, but a goldmine if you enjoy co-op and milking achievements... I think I fall just under the bar on both those counts...

    I'm concerned that AC: Brotherhood will end up like conviction - excellent multiplayer with a tacked on scaled down single player game attached. More so than Splinter Cell, AC:B will be an essential instalment in an ongoing franchise but I really hope they don't over-push the MP aspects at the expense of the single player.

    The ideal game would allow single players and online players to have an equally rich and long lasting experience even if they never touch the other half of the game. I believe Halo and Call of Duty are quite good at this.

  • metalangel #13 2 years ago

    In other words: "this new game carries on the series' reputation of being complete shit and it'll flop a bit less if we release it in spring when people are desperate for new games"

  • Lee_Morris #14 2 years ago

    So wait, they announce a game and not a month later they delay the game.

    The industry needs to get tighter on things like this. It doesn't create a stable market.

  • andywilkie35 #15 2 years ago

    Good to see Conviction selling well - superb game.

  • Rauha #16 2 years ago

    1.9 Million shipped, gamasutra report says they had 70% sell through on that shipment. So, Conviction actually sold 1.33 million.

  • TheScottyW #17 2 years ago

    "Lucky they didn't hold back Driver 3. We all benefitted from getting that as early as possible "

    - That was Atari not Ubisoft