If there's any publisher out there right now that comes to mind with the word, "Assassin," it's Ubisoft, referring of course to its Assassin's Creed franchise. Interestingly enough, the publisher was spotted filing for a trademark for the word, and seeing as they already have ones for Assassin's Creed, it's time for another guessing game as to what this one is for.

Ubisoft is hell-bent on putting its foot down against piracy as they are targeting this year to come out with a piracy solution for their games on the various platforms. The publisher has admitted that their products have been dealt a heavy blow because of the piracy, and they are now working on a tool that should cushion the impact of the said problem.

Ubisoft's decision to release an Assassin's Creed title on the PSP and put in PS3-PSP connectivity seems to be paying off. Alain Corre, Ubisoft's executive director, revealed during a conference call that projected sales of Assassin's Creed 2 have gone up by 15% thanks to the PSP title Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines.

Ubisoft has announced that they have plans to open a studio in Toronto, Ontario to expand operations and make use of creative talent in the region. Another great thing about this new studio is that it'll create 800 new jobs in the next decade. Win-win situation right there.

We've had some heavy-hitting gaming news this past week, say for example Ghostbusters: The Video Game's very apparent graphics discrepancy on competing consoles Xbox 360 and PS3. But I'd have to say that the Industry News section of our QuickPeek is clearly the winner of the highlights award for our 77th issue. From ratings boards to company love-teams, to digital distribution vs retailers, Obama's take on indoor (video)gaming versus outdoor frolicking, CEO slip-ups, cover-ups, retractions and apologies, threats to drop support for a console (as in, it's friendship over for Sony, Activision), we've got all the drama -- and more -- right here. You know what to do.

It's always been plagued by late game releases, but it looks like Europe may be getting a leg up when it comes to Ubisoft titles in the near future. According to Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, Europe is now the company's biggest market. Will this new-found importance finally give European gamers the attention they've asked for all these years? We hope so. More in the full article.

Ubisoft's on a definite roll this time around, with the company enjoying good sales numbers in the first quarter thanks to a boost afforded by the release of games such as Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360, PS3, PC), Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC), and others. There's just one little snag, however, with the confirmation of Splinter Cell: Conviction's delay. More details in the full article.

It was a lucrative year for French video game publisher and developer Ubisoft. The company saw a profitable sales growth of 36 percent, amounting to around €928 million (US$ 1.46 billion). It owed its success to the successful releases during the previous year coming from established franchises, original IP releases, and even its casual line of games. For more details, check out our full article.

Ubisoft struck gold with their acquisition of the Tom Clancy name for life. How much did it cost them, and how big a gold mine will it bring them? Talks are also in the air about their venture into the world of MMOs with the said name. To find out more, read up over at the full article.

Ubisoft's Yves Guillemot just mentioned that the video game tie-in to the hit series "Lost" is still on schedule for 2007. The game, which is almost forgotten for lack of screenshots or any solid news that tell people of its existence, is not even included in Ubisoft UK's updated release schedule. Guillemot has reported though that it's still in development in Ubisoft's Montreal studio and will be released before 2007 ends.

GamesRadar is supposing that given Guillemot's statement, the Lost video game may not be released in 2007 since it's way too late for a game that doesn't even have any screenshots or reports of gameplay mechanics. That, or Ubisoft may have resorted to creating a simple Lost trivia game for handhelds due for release this Christmas.