Guillemot: Splinter Cell and Red Steel delayed for "additional polishing time"

If you thought there was some big conspiracy behind the recently announced delays of Splinter Cell: Conviction and Red Steel 2, prepare to be disappointed. Turns out, Ubisoft just thought the two games could use a bit more time in the powder room.

"The changes on Splinter Cell and Red Steel – it's just a question of polish. The team was asking that they couldn't be with the level of quality on all the maps and all the game for the end of the year, so they had asked for more time to be able to come with a better product, for both of those games," Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said during a recent earnings call.

The quality of the games is there for what you've been able to see at E3, but we were not able to have that same quality on the full game of those two products," he added.

He also revealed that, by missing the chance to stuff gamers' stockings this holiday season, Splinter Cell and Red Steel will probably sell "around a million units" fewer in their respective first months. Madness? Not quite. "We really think with the level of quality that we'll be able to obtain with the time we give them we will have a long shelf life for those products," he explained.

Thanks, Joystiq.