GameSpot reports that Ubisoft has filed a lawsuit against Optical Experts Manufacturing, a disc replication firm based out of Charlotte, NC.

Optical Experts Manufacturing had been contracted to manufacture game discs for the PC version of Assassin's Creed, which was released this past April. According to Ubisoft, "an extraordinary breach of trust and gross negligence" led to one of the employees leaving the plant with a copy of the game some six weeks before the retail date.

In taking the contract, OEM had to agree to security procedures that would've prevented such a leak. One of these procedures, Ubisoft alleges, is that no copy would ever leave OEM's premises.

NPD indicates that the PC version of Assassin's Creed sold only some 40,000 copies through June, nothing ... Read more

An unconfirmed report by Xbox World 360 magazine claims that Ubisoft's twice-delayed stealth-centric title Splinter Cell: Conviction has been postponed yet again, with this delay going so far as to push the Xbox 360-exclusive game "back to the drawing board."

As relayed by CVG, the magazine states that the game and its pedestrian-filled environments are now expected for a holiday 2009 or spring 2010 release.

Ubisoft had previously expected a release between April 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009, with a Microsoft GDC presentation in February listing Splinter Cell: Conviction among the exclusive Xbox 360 titles due out this fall

The magazine speculates that the delay stems from the game not comparing favorably to other internally-developed titles, such as Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed.

When reached for comment by videogaming247, Ubisoft did not deny the allegations, but instead claimed it had "no official comment on this story, which is based on a purely speculative news piece."

Ubisoft has released a patch for the PC version of Assassin's Creed, updating the action adventure game to version 1.02. The update fixes a variety of bugs, adds support for 64-bit versions of Windows and fixes the broken post-effects on DirectX 10.1 enabled cards. ... Read more

Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed (PC, PS3, X360) spearheaded a 36% boost in 2008 sales over last year, the company announced today.

Ubisoft's full-year sales for its 2007-2008 fiscal year totaled EUR 928M, or roughly $1.45B at current exchange rates, a 36.4% increase over last year's figure of EUR 680M / $1.02B. Fourth quarter sales were up 10%, clocking in at EUR 217M / $340.5M.

The company cited the performance of Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed for the boost in numbers, which it said sold over six million copies since launch. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (PC, PS3, X360) also added to Ubisoft's burgeoning moneypile, recording nearly two million units sold since it hit shelves in March.

I wasn't crazy about Assassin's Creed when it hit consoles last year. Now Ubisoft is trying to win me over a second time with the PC port, offering a set of extra missions to bolster the original game's content. Are they enough? And what about those insane system requirements? I took the game for a long spin, and spit out some words.

Rather than forcing bench-sitting as a prerequisite to murder, the designers have now allowed you to complete several other, less tedious challenges that fulfill the same function. Players will have the choice of participating in timed rooftop races, archer assassinations, merchant stand destruction, and escort challenges, in addition to the five previous tasks. All are fairly self-descriptive, and all serve to infuse the investigatory intermissions with some much-needed life, by way of additional death. Read more..

This latest April Fools' Day gag comes as a collaborative effort between Konami and Ubisoft, who unveiled a video showcasing the epic crossover of Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed (PC, PS3, X360) and Kojima Productions' Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3).

Essentially a clip of Solid Snake lurking about a battlefield wearing the robes of Assassin's Creed lead Altair, the gag reel also unveils new gameplay footage of MGS4 in which Snake battles the Gekko, a bipedal tank.

Metal Gear Solid 4 will hit North American retailers on June 12.

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French publisher Ubisoft has revealed that it is latest publisher to make its PC titles available via Valve's digital distribution platform Steam, with the upcoming PC release of Assassin's Creed: Director's Cut Edition currently available for pre-purchase.

The stealth title Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and Crytek's non-linear shooter Far Cry mark Ubisoft's initial offerings, with Far Cry priced at $9.95 and Splinter Cell going for $19.95. Both will sell at a 10% discount until April 8.

Over 40 titles will be eventually be available, including Tom Clancy games, the Heroes of Might & Magic series, the IL-2 Sturmovik collection and more, along with upcoming releases such as Far Cry 2. According to Valve, bundles packaging franchise entries together will be available in the coming weeks.

"Ubisoft will be delivering the largest library of titles available from any single publisher or developer to Steam," said Valve business development director Jason Holtman, director of business development at Valve.

"We look forward to working with Steam and continuing to strengthen our commitment to the PC gaming community with innovative products and wider distribution channels, added Ubisoft senior sales director Andy Swanson.

Ubisoft has released three new shots of the PC edition of Assassin's Creed, which is due out in early April. Dubbed the Director's Cut Edition, the PC version contains several exclusive missions over its console brethren. An updated listing of the game's minimum system requirements accompanied the new shots, showing a slight improvement over the memory-heavy specs released last fall. The new requirements are as follows: ... Read more

The forthcoming PC release of Ubisoft Montreal's pre-meditated murder simulator Assassin's Creed (PS3, X360) will contain exclusive bonus missions not found within the console editions, Ubisoft has revealed.

Dubbed Assassin's Creed Director's Cut Edition, the PC versions will feature four new mission types, perhaps only possible on the platform due to the game's absurdly high system requirements. No further details were provided, though Ubisoft boasted that the content allows "even more ways for players to explore the various locations of the Third Crusade."

Assassin's Creed on the PC is expected to arrive in Europe and North America. Ubisoft has previously noted its intent to ship the title within it current fiscal quarter, which ends March 31, 2008.

GameSpot has been updated with a preview of Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles, offering impressions of the Nintendo DS action/adventure game.

The upcoming PC version of Ubisoft Montreal's premeditated murder simulator Asssassin's Creed (PC, PS3, X360) will require, at a bare minimum, 2 GB of RAM, though 3 GB is recommended.

The outrageous system minimum system requirements, which are listed below, not only surpass those of Crytek's recently released Crysis (PC), but even exceed its recommended specifications at points. Said to be a future proof hallmark of technical prowess, Crysis only mandates 1 GB of RAM, though 2 GB is recommended.

Released last fall on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Assassin's Creed has already sold over 2.5 million units and a Nintendo DS prequel is due out in February. No specific date has been announced for the PC version.

Word of the ridiculously high system requirements comes directly from publisher Ubisoft via its customer service database. The company also notes the game does not officially support laptop chipsets, though they may work, and that it will ship with anti-piracy measures that "may conflict with some disc and virtual drives."

The list of minimum system requirements is as follows... Read more

Ubisoft's Crusades-era jumping-and-killing title hits the DS this February with Assassin's Creed Altair's Chronicles. The game will be a prequel to the popular console version.

The world of Altair's Chronicles will be presented in full 3D. Players will travel to four cities and carry out similar tasks from the original game, such as killing, kicking, and other acrobatic moves.

"Assassin's Creed Altair's Chronicles will be a title that resonates with those who played the console version as well as those who have yet to discover the secrets of Assassin's Creed," claims Ubisoft's John Parkes.

Check out the screenshots below to see how much they resonate with you.

Strong sales of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed (PS3, X360) may have staved off the long-rumored EA acquisition of the publisher, reports the Financial Times.

EA bought a 20% stake in Ubisoft back in 2004, a move many regarded as a precursor to an eventual merger. Though the topic is a constant source of discussion, with both Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillmeot and EA COO William Gordon chiming in on the matter, EA has yet to take any further action, while Ubisoft has diluted EA's American holdings in the company down to 15.4%.

Now, with sales of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed exceeding 2.5 million copies and estimated to hit 5 million by March, the French company's worth just shot up again, making a possible acquisition all the more expensive. At present, Ubisoft's market value is pegged at $4.3 billion, and PC and DS editions of Assassin's Creed are due out next spring.

Earlier in the month, Activision and Vivendi Games unexpectedly merged, creating what it claims to be the largest third-party video game publisher. The move triggered a rash of speculation about the possible acquisition targets of other companies, especially EA, as it previously held the mantle of the world's largest publisher.

The persistent hype of all flavors surrounding Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed (PC, PS3, X360) seems to have paid off, as the title sold more than 2.5 million copies in the four weeks following its Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 launch. The figure makes Assassin's Creed the fastest-selling new video game property ever in the U.S., the company claimed in a statement.

Based on these startling numbers, Ubisoft has revised its current fiscal year estimates, predicting sales of 5 million units of Assassin's Creed rather than 3 million through March 30, 2008. In fiscal terms, the company bumped its revenue prediction to 840 million Euros ($1.23 billion), up from 825 million Euros ($1.21 billion).

The company is so confident in its financial position that it has pushed the release of three anticipated titles into the next fiscal year: Ubisoft Montreal's Far Cry 2 (PC), Ubisoft Shanghai's Tom Clancy's EndWar (PC, PS3, NDS, X360), and Gearbox Software's Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway (PC, PS3, X360). All three titles will now retail sometime in the coming fiscal year, which begins on April 1, 2008.

This is the third time in recent months that Ubisoft has delayed multiple titles, with Free Radical's Haze (PS3) bumped to an early 2008 release last month and Ubisoft Montreal's Splinter Cell: Conviction (PC, X360) pushed into the next fiscal year. Earlier this year, the company delayed four unspecified titles.

We recorded this thing before the super-crazy exploding news of the week broke, but ShackCast 20 does include discussion of Assassin's Creed (someone on our staff finally played it!), the just-announced Deus Ex 3, the upcoming Xbox Live update, and Harvey Smith and his departure from Midway Austin after comments regarding BlackSite: Area 51.

Plus, reader mail and what we've been playing, which includes Pain on PS3 and Gears of War on PC.

Don't forget to send in your questions and comments about video games, the Shack, or the ShackCast to shackcast@shacknews.com!

Play or download the podcast now, or browse the episodes through iTunes, RSS, or Digg, or continue on for the full breakdown. ... Read more

Ubisoft is currently working on a patch to resolve the freezing issues some are experiencing with the PlayStation 3 version of Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed. The pre-meditated murder simulator was released earlier this month on both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, with the PC version planned for an early 2008 release.

"We can confirm that we are actively working on a game update," UK Community Manager UbiRazz posted on the game's official message board. "This update will help improve the stability of the game and will be released as soon as possible."

Jade Raymond is going to make you her bitch. No, that's not what they're saying? Well in any case, here's a new trailer for Assassin's Creed. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game hit stores next week.

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Over at Eurogamer you can find an Assassin's Creed preview, going hands-on with a final build of the game.

play.tm has been updated with an Assassin's Creed preview, going hands-on with Ubisoft's new action adventure game.

The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed are now being manufactured and will hit stores on November 13, Ubisoft announced today. A $69.99 limited edition, said to pack a figurine and other goodies, will be available along with the standard $59.99 version.

The PC version of the latest stealth adventure title from the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time team was originally scheduled to release alongside the console iterations, but was recently delayed until early 2008. A Nintendo DS edition is also in development and is currently slated for a February release. For more on the console and PC edition of Assassin's Creed and its escapist atmosphere, check out our hands-on impressions.

"We've been working very hard for nearly four years to make Assassin's Creed a reality and now there is a confirmed date when players will get to experience the results of our efforts," producer Jade Raymond quipped while attempting to avoid her creepy mob of admirers. "This is a huge event for the team. Our biggest reward will be everyone having a lot of good solid fun."