Ubi plans Christmas rush

Ubisoft is planning to strike hard at retail this Christmas, judging by the company's latest release schedule issued this week, with three massive titles and a number of other supporting numbers hoping to give the company a commercial reception to match the critical acclaim it enjoyed during the same period in 2003.

According to the latest schedule, much anticipated World War II shooter Brothers In Arms, which seems to be tackling the subject with a lot more precision and class than many of its rivals, should arrive on PC and Xbox in mid-to-late October (the PS2 version is due out in Q1 2005), while Prince of Persia 2 will launch on all formats (PS2, Xbox, Cube, PC) just weeks later in November.

As if that weren't enough, there's the promise of Splinter Cell 3, or Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory as it's now known, which should arrive in November on PC and Xbox also, with other formats due to receive the title in time-honoured tradition in early 2005 (PS2, Cube, GBA and N-Gage all being good bets).

That's not all Ubisoft has planned though. Those titles will be joined on store shelves at around the same period by Myst 4 - Revelation (PC, October 1st), Star Ocean: Till The End Of Time (which the firm is distributing for Square Enix on PS2, Oct 1st), Playboy: The Mansion, which is due out on PS2, Xbox and PC (November 5th) and more besides. EverQuest II could well ship this September, too.

Although release dates are obviously subject to change, the prospect of getting Brothers In Arms, POP2 and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory in the same year is tantalising enough for us. To get them all within a few weeks should make for a very merry Christmas indeed. We'll let you know if any of the dates change.