Ubisoft released its sales for the fiscal half-year which ended Sept. 30, 2008, revealing sales are up 37% compared to last year, mainly driven by Brothers in Arms Hell's Highway, SoulCalibur IV (Europe) and its casual games lineup. Ubisoft expects further sales increase with its holiday lineup including Far Cry 2, Snowboarding, Prince of Persia, EndWar, Rayman and several more. Unfortunately, there is also some bad news, as Related Designs' strategy game, Anno 1404, and an unannounced title, were pushed until next fiscal year (anywhere from Apr. 1, 2009 to Mar. 31, 2010).

Former Ubisoft and Gameloft developers who worked on titles such as Far Cry 2, Prince of Persia, Ghost Recon, Brothers in Arms decided to take matters into their own hands and form a new studio, trapdoor. Located in downtown Montreal, the studio is currently working on a multiplatform (X360/PS3/PC) original IP, but no further details are available at this point.

In a recent interview EndWar lead AI programmer Vinh-Dieu Lam revealed that Ubisoft is thinking about merging all of its Tom Clancy titles (now that it has acquired the full license) into one overarching super game, where missions generated in a Ghost Recon game affect the world map in EndWar for instance, or a mission in EndWar will need you to attack Paris but before you can it may generate a Splinter Cell or Ghost Recon mission. While there is no time frame for the project, or whether it will even come this console generation, Lam indicated it's the direction Ubisoft wants to go in.

Adult Swim is exposing fans and music lovers to hip-hop straight out of Johannesburg, South Africa in the comfort of their own country. African Swim is a collection of some of the most innovative contemporary African hip-hop music, compiling 15 tracks from some of South Africa's most popular hip-hop artists, downloadable for free.

Check out the following new screens and trailers from Ubisoft's Tokyo Game Show 2008 lineup:

• 'Far Cry 2' (PS3/X360/PC) - 19 New Screens
• 'Prince of Persia Prodigy' (ALL) - New Screens & Trailer
• 'Tom Clancy's EndWar' (ALL) - 20 New Screens
• 'Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.' (ALL) - 9 New Screens

Check out the following new screens and trailers from Ubisoft's Games Convention 2008 lineup:

• 'Far Cry 2' (PS3/X360/PC) - 18 New Screens
• 'Naruto: The Broken Bond' (X360) - New Screens
• 'Prince of Persia: The Fallen King' (NDS) - New Screens
• 'Prince of Persia Prodigy' (ALL) - New Screens & Trailer
• 'Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party' (NDS/Wii) - New Screens
• 'Shaun White Snowboarding' (PS3/X360/PC) - 17 New Screens
• 'Shaun White Snowboarding Road Trip' (Wii) - New Screens & Trailer
• 'Tom Clancy's EndWar' (ALL) - 7 New Screens & Trailer
• 'Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.' (ALL) - New Screens

Check out the following new screens and trailers from Ubisoft's Games Convention 2008 lineup:

• 'Babysitting Party' (Wii) - 4 New Screens
• 'Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs' (NDS) - 16 New Screens & Trailer
• 'Imagine Babysitters' (NDS) - 5 New Screens
• 'Imagine Fashion Designer New York' (NDS) - 5 New Screens
• 'Imagine Fashion Party' (Wii) Announced - Facts & Features
• 'Imagine Movie Star' (NDS) Announced - Facts & Features
• 'Imagine Teacher' (NDS) - 5 New Screens
• 'Imagine Wedding Designer' (NDS) Announced - Facts & Features
• 'My Stop Smoking Coach with Allen Carr' (NDS) - 6 New Screens
• 'Petz Monkeyz House' (Wii) - 8 New Screens
• 'Petz Rescue Endangered Paradise' (NDS) - 3 New Screens
• 'Petz Rescue Ocean Patrol' (NDS) - 3 New Screens
• 'Petz Rescue Wildlife Vet' (NDS/Wii) - 2 New Screens
• 'Petz Sports: Dog Playground' (Wii) Announced - Screens & Trailer

Ubisoft announced the opening of a new business office, not a development studio, in Warsaw, to help increase Ubisoft's market share in Poland and Eastern Europe.

Ubisoft has filed a lawsuit against Optical Experts Manufacturing, the North Carolina-based company it had used to makes copies of Assassin's Creed on PC. OEM failed to follow its own security measures and allowed an employee to take home a copy of the game, who then uploaded it on the internet six weeks before its official release. Ubisoft claims the leak was downloaded 700,000 times, costing the publisher millions of dollars, and is suing for breach of contract and negligence, asking for $10 million each.

Ubisoft's Q1 2008 financial result reveals that sales are up 25.8% (€169 million compared to last year's €134 million) driven mainly by Assassin’s Creed, Haze, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 as well as its Games For Everyone brand (Petz, Imagine and MyCoach series) which saw a boost of 20% compared to last year. Also revealed was the Splinter Cell delay, which we reported on earlier today.

Check out the following new screens and trailers from Ubisoft's E3 2008 lineup:

• Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway (ALL) - 4 New Screens & Trailer
• Far Cry 2 (PS3/X360/PC) - 11 New Screens & Trailer
• Hell's Kitchen: The Video Game (NDS/Wii/PC) - Screens
• 'Naruto: The Broken Bond' (X360) Announced- Facts, Features, Screens & Trailer
• Prince of Persia Prodigy' [ALL] - 2 New Screens & Trailer
• Prince of Persia: The Fallen King (NDS) - 6 New Screens
• Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party (NDS/Wii) - Screens & Artwork
• Shaun White Snowboarding (ALL) - 15 New Screens
• Tom Clancy's EndWar (ALL) - 10 New Screens & Trailer
• Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. (PS3/X360/PC) - 10 New Screens & Trailer

GErman based 3D Game Engine developer Trinigy announced a license deal with Ubisoft studio Blue Byte, giving The Settlers developer access to Trinigy’s latest Vision Engine 7.0 which has been unveiled quite recently.

Ubisoft announced the acquisition of Montreal-based visual effects studio Hybride Technologies, known for having worked on 300, Frank Miller’s Sin City and the Spy Kids series.

Exent Technologies has secured an agreement to increase the library of Ubisoft titles available for Exent-powered Games-On-Demand services in North America, adding franchises such as Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, Prince of Persia, Far Cry, Rayman and Heroes of Might and Magic.

Martin, Diana and Java pursue ceaselessly the most revolting monsters dripping with Slime. These very special agents are commissioned by M.O.M, the director of CENTRE, to lead these paranormal investigations throughout the world.

French publisher Ubisoft keeps on opening new studios all over the world, and announced it is opening shop in Brazil to start yet another new game studio, Ubisoft São Paulo, which will initially focus on creating NDS titles aimed at girls between the age of 8 and 14. Ubisoft further plans to open up additional studios in Rio de Janeiro and Florianópolis.

Earlier this week we revealed From Software's latest installment in the Tenchu franchise. At a conference in Japan it was disclosed that Ubisoft will publish Tenchu 4, which will see the return of the two main characters, Rikimaru et Ayame, tasked with investigating the disappearance of Gouda Matsunoshin's daughter Kiku. More infiltration, more environmental interaction, combos, and of course use of the Wiimore for aiming at the screen.

Last year Ubisoft announced it was developing a game based on 20th Century Fox's Avatar, the story of an ex-Marine who finds himself thrust into hostilities on an alien planet filled with exotic life forms, written and directed by James Cameron. At the UbiDays 08 CEO Guillemot confirmed that they are working on 3-D games, Avatar being one of them, which is scheduled for mid 2009.

Check out the following new screens and trailers from Ubisoft's 2008 UbiDays lineup:

• 'Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party' (Wii) Announced - Screens & Trailer
• 'Shaun White Snowboarding' (Wii/PS3/X360/PC) Announced - Facts, Features & Screens
• 'Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking' (NDS) Announced
• 'Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway' (ALL) - 5 New Screens & Trailer
• 'Tom Clancy's HAWX' (PS3/X360/PC) - 7 New Screens
• 'Beyond Good & Evil 2' (ALL) Confirmed - Teaser Screens & Trailer
• 'Prince Of Persia Prodigy' [ALL] - Facts, Features Screens & Trailer
• 'Far Cry 2' (PS3/X360/PC) - Facts, Features, Screens & Trailer
• 'Tom Clancy's EndWar' (ALL) - Facts, Features, Screens & Trailer
• 'Soulcalibur IV' (PS3/X360) - 17 New Screens & Trailer

Even though Bethesda opened an office in Europe, it seems Ubisoft will be distributing Fallout 3 in Europe. Fallout 3 places you in the role of a Vault-dweller, who ventures from his secluded, underground survival Vault into a post apocalyptic world of mutants, radiation, gangs and violence.

Ubisoft announced that Kiev, Ukraine, has been chosen as the location of its latest internal development studio, representing Ubisoft’s 3rd studio in Eastern Europe, and the 5th new studio in the last few months.

Ubisoft reported sales figures for the Q4 of its fiscal year 2007/2008, with sales up 10%, full year sales up 36 % to $1.32 billion, mainly driven by strong performances from Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2, The Games For Everyone Brands and Assassin's Creed. Ubisoft also announced it will be recruiting for 900 positions in the next 12 months for its various studios.

Ubisoft announces that it has concluded an agreement with Gameloft to acquire its video game development studio based in Pune, India. The studio will initially focus on porting titles to handhelds and reinforcing Ubisoft’s testing teams. The goal is to become 200-people strong in 12 months time and to reach a team of 500 in the coming years.

Bringing all of the intense combat, stylized graphics, and ultimate ninja action to touch-screens everywhere, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword features a new storyline and innovative use of the DS Stylus.

Valve has signed a digital distribution agreement with Ubisoft to bring more than 40 of the French publisher's games, including Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, various Tom Clancy titles, to customers in Canada and the United States via Steam, and is currently offering up Assassin's Creed for pre-purchase.