Ubisoft hopes to release five new games before April next year

After a strong start to the year, you'd be forgiven for thinking Ubisoft is taking the rest of 2016 off. Though several projects are in development, no games have been confirmed to release this year – nor is there going to be a major new Assassin's Creed title.

The publisher definitely has release plans though, according to its 2016 earnings report. Among the investor-pleasing figures was an indication of its plans for the fiscal year of 2017, which ends on March 31. As reported by VG247, a slide was shown stating that Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Watch Dogs 2, For Honor and the new South Park game are all targeted to release during this fiscal year. It looks like Ubisoft will have a big E3 after all.

There's a new "AAA" IP in development too, also scheduled to release before March 31. I've no idea what that could be, but at a stretch, they could be talking about that Trials / Blood Dragon mash-up we caught wind of a couple of weeks ago. That doesn't sound like AAA material, though.

Other money-centric news from the Ubisoft behemoth: The Division now has 9.5 million users, and the company has sold $1.587 billion worth of product over the last 12 months. Making video games seems like a pretty lucrative business.

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.