Q1 games to slip further into 2010 - Ubisoft CEO

The past few months have seen 2009's once-dense game herd drastically thinned by the delays of MAG, Starcraft II, Singularity, BioShock 2, Mafia II, Red Dead Redemption, Bayonetta, Dead to Rights: Retribution, Dark Void, and now Super Mario Galaxy 2 into next year. Now, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot is saying 2010 itself is becoming overcrowded.

"Well, we now have a situation where there are a lot of good games due for release in the first half of next year, but I think some publishers will move again," Guillemot told British Magazine MCV. "The first quarter of 2010 is looking pretty crazy. So I expect some movement from the other players--some of those delayed games will be moved again.”

Guillemot knows a thing or two about high-profile delays. Four of his company's top 2009 releases--Red Steel 2, I Am Alive, Splinter Cell: Conviction, and the next Ghost Recon--were moved into 2010. And although he didn't address the prospect of his own company's games being pushed back further, he did explain why one--the long-awaited Conviction--didn't make this year's cut.

"The game itself still would have been good, even a great game. But we want it to be an excellent game, because the other games coming out are getting better all the time," explained the executive. "So we said: why not? If we can delay it and benefit then that's a good thing. Plus there are loads of great games coming out this side of Christmas. … But the truth is, Splinter Cell wasn't at the point we wanted."