Ubisoft Montreal’s stealth-action sequel Splinter Cell: Conviction and Eugen’s strategy game R.U.S.E. have both been delayed, publisher Ubisoft revealed today. Conviction’s release date was on February 23, but now it slated for release in April 2010. As for R.U.S.E which is a strategy game set on a huge scale, for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 is now expected to arrive sometime during Ubisoft’s next fiscal year (April 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011) instead of its original ‘by March 31, 2010′ timeframe.
 

Ubisoft has also revealed that its fiscal year 2010-11 lineup will include a new entry in the Assassin’s Creed series with online multiplayer. From the press release:
 

“The 2010-11 fiscal year will see a greater number of franchise releases than fiscal year 2009-10, including Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction, a new game in the Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon series, Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands, Driver, Raving Rabbids 4 and a new episode of Assassin’s Creed, which will be the first in the series to have an online multiplayer mode.”
 
 

 
 

It will be interesting to see how the developers at Ubisoft will implement an online multiplayer mode in a stealth action game like Assassin’s Creed. More information as they become available.
 
Update: This new Assassin’s Creed will be a standalone game that includes a mutiplayer component. It is not Assassin’s Creed II DLC. It will feature ACII hero Ezio de Auditore. Source.