According to Ubisoft’s official Twitter account their DRM servers (responsible for protecting their new games from piracy) were attacked yesterday which would not allow users to play either Assassin’s Creed II or Silent Hill 5 on the PC. It seems that the very same attack that prevented users from playing yesterday is happening again today according to a recent tweet by Ubisoft.

Also Ubisoft is reporting that their games are still withstanding crack efforts by the piracy community with no confirmed cases of pirated copies successfully being played. At this rate, however, this new DRM (which will be included with Splinter Cell: Conviction) is proving to be more trouble than it is worth for those that have bought the games.

Servers Under Attack [Twitter]

Today Ubisoft released the first developer diary video Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. This dev diary reveals that this game will be going back to it’s 3D origins, the Sands of Time. The video showcases both combat and various acrobatic moves, all of which seem fluid and true to the original. Ubisoft this time is not trying to re-invent the series (like they did with Prince of Persia) but rather return to their true roots and deliver the same great experience. You can check out the first gameplay footage of this game after the break.

Ubisoft has just sent word of some  new DLC for Assassin's Creed II pegged for release tomorrow, February 18, on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Sequence 13: Bonfire of the Vanities will be expanding the current gameplay with more than ten new memories and you will also unlock a new move for Ezio called the Spring-Jump. You'll be working with Machiavelli in Florence to help stop the influence of the monk Savonarola and if you feel like spending a little more, you can explore several new Templar Secret Locations:

Palazzo Medici – Located in Florence, the player gets to explore the house of the Medici family. It is located in the San Marco district of Florence.

Santa Maria dei Frari – Located in Venice, in the San Polo district, the player gets to explore this renowned church built in the XIIIth century.

Arsenal Shipyard – Venice was known for its Arsenal, a shipyard that was settled in the eastern part of the city. The last Templars’ Lair is located there, and lets the player explore the Drydocks.

The DLC will be priced at 320 Microsoft Points/$5 for just the Bonfire of the Vanities or players can spend 520 Microsoft Points/$8 for the Bonfire content plus the Templar Secret Locations.

Earlier today, the next chapter in the Ghost Recon series was announced by Ubisoft. Being developed at Ubisoft's Paris studio by the team that brought you the earlier installments of the Ghost Recon franchise, Future Soldier promises to go beyond the core Ghost Recon mechanics and deliver fresh gameplay. They won't be dropping the prototype weaponry and future technology components; so hardcore series fans like myself shouldn't be too worried.

Ubisoft is promising a release for the holiday season this year, and the multiplayer beta will be awarded to purchasers of the Splinter Cell Conviction game which goes on sale this April 16th, exclusively on the Xbox 360.  There's been no word yet as to whether or not Future Soldier will be available on the PC or PS3, but future announcements should clarify that in short order.

The folks over at IGN got a nice present from Ubisoft today, a rock with a date written on it. The date, 4.13.10 (April 13th, 2010) signifies that the release date for Splinter Cell: Conviction is now set in stone! Pretty clever on Ubisoft’s part, although I would’ve preferred that we never got this far (the game was originally delayed from a late 2009 release to early 2010 and then again a few weeks ago to April of 2010).

Ubisoft Dates Splinter Cell: Conviction (Again) [IGN]

In a press release today Ubisoft has detailed revised objectives for the 2010-2011 line-ups.  Ubisoft is expecting to end the 2009 fiscal year with an operating loss due to several various factors. They loss is reflected as a result of lower-than-expected sales, underperforming titles, abandoned projects and delayed titles. Among these delayed titles, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction, has been delayed yet again to a new projected release of sometime in the month of April 2010 from its original delayed date of February 23^rd.  R.U.S.E, a real-time strategy World War 2 game, has also been delayed from March of this year to a vague release window of 2010-2011.

However amongst the news of delayed games comes the announcement of a new Assassin’s Creed “episode” which will be the first in the series to offer online multiplayer. We will also see new entries into the Raving Rabbids  and Driver series. Also the company has announced their plans to re-focus their efforts on their AAA franchises and the Xbox 360 and PS3 platforms after poor performance on other consoles and titles. You can read the full press-release after the break.

With the success Wii Sports Resort has been making, Wii publisher Ubisoft have decided to take "a piece of that pie" to themselves with their new title called Racquet Sports, bundling tennis, ping pong, badminton, squash, and beach tennis in one hard-hitting package.

In a recent earnings conference call, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot affirmed the publisher’s support for Microsoft’s free-motion style Project Natal technology and Sony’s yet to be officially named PS3 motion controller solution.

According to Yves, 10 titles are due out for Natal within the first six months of launch. It comes as no surprise, considering the company has had devkits for the technology ever since Microsoft unveiled it last June.

On the other side of fence, four to five games are currently planned for Sony’s PS3 motion controller. Guillemot clarified that only games exclusively taking advantage of the two technologies were included in the count, meaning the the number of titles that partially take advantage of motion control on Xbox 360 and PS3 may be much larger.

Ubisoft Pledges Support for Project Natal, PS3 Motion Controller - [eXophase.com]

Ubisoft today announced that Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is in development and scheduled for a May 2010 debut. Taking a trip back down memory lane for those that have been following the franchise, this entry ties directly into the Sands of Time storyline.

While media of the title has yet to crop up, it will likely forgo the cel-shaded art style of last year’s Prince of Persia reboot in favor of more realistic visuals. An appropriate decision considering this one is primed to coincide with the release of Disney’s live-action film. All Ubisoft is saying at the moment is that this installment will carry “many of the fan-favorite elements from the original series as well as new gameplay innovations that gamers have come to expect from the Prince of Persia brand.”

Stay tuned for a premier trailer of the title, which is set to appear on Spike TV’s “Video Game Awards 2009″ this coming Saturday, December 12 at 8 p.m. EST. No word on if gameplay footage will be present, but we’ll find out soon enough.

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands Slated for May 2010 Debut - [eXophase.com]

Speaking to Official PlayStation Magazine, Ubisoft scriptwriter Kevin Shortt revealed that development on Far Cry 3 is already underway. Not exactly a bombshell, considering the sheer success of the past two installments, but always nice to receive a confirmation regardless. While Shortt isn’t directly involved in penning this one, things are shaping up to be “pretty exciting” from what he’s seen:

But I know the team are [working on it] and what I’ve seen looks pretty exciting.

No word on when we might see Far Cry 3 in action, but late 2010 sounds probable.

Far Cry 3 looking “pretty exciting” [CVG]

Ubisoft Scriptwriter Makes Far Cry 3 Official - [eXophase.com]