Having sold 2.5 million copies on its first month and hitting eight in 2009, Alta-yeer and Assassin's Creed definitely set the bar high for the trilogy. But as early as now, Ezio and Assassin's Creed II are expected to do much better, with pre-orders up 10-20% from their predecessor.

According to Mike Hickey of Janco Partners, Assassin's Creed II will do better than the first, and it'll give a much-needed boost for Ubisoft and its Q3 numbers.

Ubisoft has "a strong stable of owned and internally developed franchises with an ability to create successful new IP while establishing effective licensing relationships," says Hickey. The DS side may not do very well over the coming months, but the analyst reckons Rabbids Go Home, Shaun White Snowboarding 2 and James Cameron’s Avatar will do well.

Projections for the fiscal year ending March 2010 may not be looking good, Hickey believes that Ubisoft's Q3 will have better numbers than the last, mostly due to Assassin's Creed II, which will come out later this month for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.

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More Assassin's Creed II news:

• Video: Assassin's Creed 2: Exclusive Master Edition unboxed
• Ubisoft expects "bigger, better" performance from Assassin's Creed 2