Following Ubisoft Entertainment announcing last month that they had seen an increase in recent earnings, the latest financial report from the company and the subsequent investor conference call revealed some interesting information regarding the future of the company.

A 16% growth in investment headlined the changes, along with a decline in research and development costs due to a focus on casual DS titles. This was offset by more widespread marketing costs, and asset acquisitions, such as the recent acquisition of Massive Entertainment. The highlight of the conference was the fact that hints towards a new title in the Assassin's Creed franchise were given.

During the call, an analyst asked questions regarding the future Assassin's Creed franchise, and whether a new title was planned, potentially for a release to take place in 2010. Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft responded to the question bluntly - stating that - "We're not answering that question. What we just can say is that we are working hard on the product."

Whilst this isn't an official confirmation that the title will come to fruition, it is likely that we can except the title at some point in the near future. Other questions asked of Guillemot and Alain Martinez, Chief Financial Officer of Ubisoft questioned future plans for downloadable content or online subscription fee revenue - which were met with some enthusiasm with two as-yet unannounced titles that were expected to create "some revenue" in the sector next year.

Whether this correlates to previously announced plans for Massive Entertainment, who are set to embark on "light MMO" development, we'll have to wait and see.

Meanwhile, Ubisoft's "Games for Everyone" brand was met with mixed results, with some newer brands performing better than their established brands. Guillemot concluded that the video game market was still strong, but suffered some stiff competition in regards to the upcoming festive season, but was confident that Ubisoft's profits would remain stable.