Ghost Recon: Future Soldier deploying in Q4

In December, Ubisoft trademarked the name "Ghost Recon: Future Soldier." Today, the French publisher announced that the title of the long-awaited next installment in its Tom Clancy-inspired squad-based shooter series would be called…Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.

While Ubisoft was forthcoming on the game's holiday 2010 release date, it only confirmed the Xbox 360 version of the game in its official release. The announcement was supplemented by Ubisoft employees' Twitter posts, which confirmed that developer Ubisoft Paris is also working on a PlayStation 3 edition. A subsequent tweet said a PC version was also planned but did not say whether it would be simultaneously released. Many Ubisoft PC games trail their console siblings by several months, including Assassin's Creed II and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2.

[UPDATE] In a conference call following this morning's Ubisoft earnings report, CEO Yves Guillemot also said that Ghost Recon: Future Soldier was in development for the PSP and DS. He did not, however, offer a release date for those two platforms.

[UPDATE 2] Ubisoft executives have now also confirmed a Wii version of the game but did not say if it would launch alongside the other console editions.

Ubisoft seems to be rolling out the red carpet for the 360 version of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. The game's trailer premiered this morning on Xbox Live, and its multiplayer beta will be available exclusively to those who purchase the 360 version of another Tom Clancy game, Splinter Cell Conviction. (The offer does not apply to the PC edition.) Though that game ships in North America on April 13, Future Soldier's MP beta won't begun until this summer, according to Ubisoft.

First revealed last January and then officially announced in April 2009, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier appears to get its name from the "Future Soldier" programs being conducted by the US and its NATO allies. The initiative, currently part of the US Army's Brigade Combat Team Modernization Program, focuses on outfitting infantrymen with networked communications and high-tech equipment. In today's announcement, Ubisoft emphasized technology repeatedly to help hype the game, saying that it would feature prototype weapons and that its single- and multiplayer modes would be "state of the art."

Ironically, much of the real-life Future Soldier's equipment was already featured in the critically acclaimed Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2, which is set during a fictional conflict in the year 2013. (Ubisoft did not reveal any story details about the new title.) GameSpot's video review of that game is below.