French publisher and developer Ubisoft have bought the intellectual property rights to the Tom Clancy name and brand, for use in games and other products including books and films.

It’s unknown at this time what this will mean if Tom Clancy writes any more books (although the sixty year old has admittely been writing less in recent years). It seems unlikely he will have to licence his own name back from Ubisoft, but for the moment details like this are not clear.

Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot later went on to express interest in developing a Tom Clancy MMO, but stated that royalties issues had held them back in the past. Forthcoming titles under the Tom Clancy banned include EndWar and Air Combat, although it seems likely more titles will be on the way in wake of this deal.