Last Thanksgiving, French publisher Ubisoft--unburdened by Turkey-gorging duties--issued a robust earnings report for the six months ended September 30, 2008. As part of that earnings release, the company confirmed it was working on a follow-up to Assassin's Creed, which has sold an estimated 5 million units worldwide. Later rumors had the title forgoing the original's medieval Middle Eastern setting for Revolutionary France.

Today, as part of another healthy financial report, Ubisoft referred to Assassin's Creed 2 by name, declaring it will ship sometime during the 12 months ending March 31, 2010. Given the first game was one of Ubisoft's tentpole holiday 2007 titles, a Q4 2009 launch looks likely. Ubisoft's next fiscal year will also see a sequel to the popular high-tech shooter Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2, originally released in March 2007.

"Our fiscal year 2009-10 lineup comprises several potential blockbusters with the launch of seven franchises, including Assassin's Creed 2, Splinter Cell Conviction, and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 3, as well as four license-based games including James Cameron's Avatar, three new brands, and a further-enhanced casual-games portfolio," crowed Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot. "Although we have to be cautious in light of the current economic environment, we expect Ubisoft to once again be one of the most dynamic and profitable publishers in the games industry in calendar year 2009."

Unfortunately, the excitement generated by the Assassin's Creed 2 and GRAW 3 revelations was tempered somewhat by confirmation of a major delay. I Am Alive, the multiplatform horror-survival game that was the centerpiece of Ubisoft's E3 2008 presentation, "will require further development time and will now bolster the line-up for 2009-10," the company said. Previously, it was expected to arrive for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, this spring .

I AM SO FREAKIN EXCITED RIGHT NOW !!!