Today Ubisoft announced results for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2004-2005, which showed an 8 % sales growth over last year's results. The included release schedule shows that Rainbow Six Lockdown has once again been delayed, this time to Q3 (July-September). More curious is the lack of PC specifications for Lockdown and 187 Ride or Die, something we experienced with Ghost Recon 2 right before its cancellation. The announcement also revealed two new titles, Surrender: Battle for the Bulge, and Firefighter Command: Raging Inferno. Read more for detailed financial results ...

Kingdom Hearts II follows Sora, Donald, and Goofy on their continuing quest to find their friends and King Mickey. It has been a year since the events of Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories. The story begins in Twilight Town, a quiet burg nestled between night and day. Sora and friends are joined by a vibrant new cast of characters, including the king himself! In the effort to help Mulan and stop the villain Hades' devious plots, they will encounter countless dangers both familiar and brand-new.

Europe 1942. These are desperate hours for Allied forces as the Nazi war machine rages across a devastated European landscape. You are US Army Lieutenant William Holt, hand-picked by William “Wild Bill” Donovan to be the first field agent of the newly formed Office of Strategic Services­the OSS. Medal of Honor European Assault makes you the driving force in the struggle to liberate Europe.

Ratchet: Deadlocked, created exclusively for the PS2 by Insomniac Games, incorporates co-op gameplay in both single-player and multiplayer story modes -- as well as squad-based functionality. Read more for new screens ..

Eidos announces that Championship Manager 5 will be released on Xbox and PlayStation 2 on 13th May 2005. Championship Manager 5 features 25 playable national leagues with 59 divisions and a massive database of footballers from around the world.

LucasArts has released a new patch for Obsidian's Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. This patch brings your UK/German retail game to v1.0b, and adds Intel i915 chipset support, some new voice lines and addresses various game crashes, journal & scripting fixes, and a few other tweaks. Read more for download links ...

Buena Vista today announced a distribution deal with Tokyo-based D3 Publisher to release multiple BVG games in Japan. Titles will include The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe; Disney's Chicken Little; Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas; Kim Possible; and Lilo & Stitch.

Electronic Arts and The University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering today announced that they are partnering to co-sponsor the first-ever scholarship opportunity to the USC Interactive Entertainment Summer Camp. Open to any female high school junior or senior, the scholarship will assure an aspiring female game designer a coveted spot in the unique summer program.

Nevrax, developer of massively multiplayer online role-playing game The Saga of Ryzom, announced the addition of Jessica Mulligan as Executive Producer of The Saga of Ryzom.

Matrix Games is very pleased to announce that "Wild Bill" Wilder, famed for his roles with series such as Battlefront's Combat Mission, HPS' Squad Battles, TalonSoft's Operational Art of War, and Matrix Games' Steel Panthers Series, has joined the crew at Lock 'n Load to bring the battles of the 82nd and 101st Airborne into the game.

Deadhunt is a first-person arcade shooter (FPS) game that merges the best features of arcade and FPS action games with fresh ideas and new twists. REL Games has released an updated demo, adding an extra difficulty setting to the game. Read more for download links ...

Vivendi announced today that Predator: Concrete Jungle, developed by Eurocom for the PS2 and Xbox, has shipped to stores and is now available nationwide. The new 3rd person action/adventure game weaves the past with the future, as gamers become the terrifying Predator, hunting the Earth for criminals using superhuman powers, fantastic vision modes and an impressive array of alien weaponry.

SNK USA announced today that they will unleash four new games for the Xbox in 2005 that will have full Xbox Live support including rematch, head-to-head fighting and Tournament Modes. The King of Fighters Neowave, Samurai Showdown 5, The King of Fighters '94 Re-Bout, and KOF: Maximum Impact - Maniax which will all ship during 2005 for the system. Later this Summer SNK will also release Metal Slug 4/5 combo pack for the system that will offer Xbox Live Leaderboard options and King of Fighers 02/03 that will offer online head-to-head fighting.

Vivendi has released the first update patch for MadDoc's just released RTS Empire Earth II. This update brings your retail game to v1.05 and resolves a GameSpy lobby issues and adds autopatch functionality. Read more for download links ...

Got Game Entertainment and co-publisher Merscom today announced that Laser Squad Nemesis for North American release has begun shipping to retail stores across North America. Developed by Nick and Julian Gollop, the team behind the "X-Com" games, Laser Squad Nemesis is a tactical warfare game which combines a unique and innovative turn-based combat system with the action of real-time strategy games.

Shortly after we revealed it last night, Disney Online officially announces that it is developing a new massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the popular theme park attraction and franchise Pirates of the Caribbean. The game is slated to debut in summer 2006, coinciding with the theatrical premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

Vivendi Universal Games announced today that the real-time strategy game Empire Earth II has shipped to retail stores in the US and will be available for purchase by Thursday, April 28th. The game carries a suggested retail price of $49.99 for the PC and has been rated "T" for Teen audiences by the ESRB.

Techland's Island of Living Dead is a survival horror FPP shooter where action is situated in the near future, when all of today's threats and fears become reality. Global pestilences, mutating viruses and products of illegal genetic engineering begin to devastate mankind. The player, surrounded by mutants and half-dead enemies, will struggle for his life. "Island of Living Death" uses the Chrome Engine, among other simulation of environment devices, and all top notch vertex- and pixel-shader-based visual effects to provide an unforgettable experience of playing your own life in the amazing world of the near future.

Vivisector: Beast Inside developed by Action Forms (creators of Chasm and Carnivores series) is a unique mixture of 3D Action/Horror. The game blends a thrilling interactive story with intense, high-adrenaline action and immerses players in a rich and fascinating storyline.

Seems like Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is not the only movie tie-in title under development, as Walt Disney Internet Group revealed today that it is working on a Pirates of the Caribbean MMO scheduled for release next summer in conjunction with the second PoTC movie. Disney's Buena Vista Games recently acquired Avalanche Software and founded its own production studio in Vancouver. Whether either one will actually partake in the development is not clear at this point. Read the full article over at Variety...

SCEE today announced that its PSP will be launched in Europe on 1st September 2005, available in a single version Value Pack, priced at €249 (£179). The PSP Value Pack contains the PSP with a pouch, 32MB Memory Stick Duo, Battery Pack, Headphones with Remote Control, AC Adaptor, Wrist Strap, cloth and a video/music/game sampler Universal Media Disc including several non-interactive game demos.

Valve has released a new Half-Life 2: Deathmatch map, dm_runoff, which is now available via Steam. If you have HL2:DM installed in your Steam games list, you will receive the new maps automatically. This release also includes a Source Engine update which moves default Steam port to 27009 (UDP) from 27030. Use -steamport to override this setting.

CDV, in partnership with developer Enigma, today announced War Leaders: Clash of Nations, previously known as War Leaders: WWII. War Leaders will offer players a complete strategy experience, requiring gamers take on the role of diplomat, grand strategist and battlefield tactician in a war-torn WWII Europe.

SpecForce is Techland's latest futuristic tactical shooter with a plot connected to already known Chrome. Game development has been underway for some time now, and will use an optimized Chrome Engine. Techland today revealed first details of the game's multiplayer mode, along with fresh game play footage.

TKO's Heaven VS Hell, the next generation of real-time strategy (RTS) PC gaming, will put players in command of angelic, demonic and mortal forces battling to determine the fate of humanity. Read more for details ...