In an interview with gamesindustry.biz, the creative director of Ubisoft’s EndWar, Michael de Plater had a few words to say about the upcoming releases for the Christmas season (or holiday season for you PC types.) “It’s a bit tough to launch a new IP exactly at Christmas when you’re head-to-head with blockbuster sequels,” de Plater says, commenting on the strong lineup of games coming up this winter, which includes Assassin’s Creed 2, Modern Warfare 2, and Mass Effect 2 (ME2 may be a bad example though as that’s dated for Q1 2010, not Christmas). He also covers trend convergence between blockbuster and casual gaming in the future and even pulls out his crystal ball, predicting voice recognition in games coming out in five years.

Essentially, if you’re releasing a game this winter and it doesn’t end in 2, it’s going to get swallowed up by the aforementioned heavy hitters.  And if your game doesn’t come with night-vision goggles, then don’t even bother.