Acquisition of the brand means the publisher can now move into MMO arena without paying out royalties.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 screenshot

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has revealed that the publisher's acquisition of the Tom Clancy license opens up the door for a Tom Clancy massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

"We will be able to adapt the brand to new formats, in particular the MMO format, where the royalties were a big thing holding us back," Guillemot told investors in a conference call.

Its "complete editorial control" over the Tom Clancy brand also gives the publisher freedom not previously possible, allowing characters from a particular series to make an appearance in another. Guillemot called it "cross-fertilisation of characters" much like Super Smash Bros.

The CEO also said that the acquisition sees the publisher "becoming a major player" in book publishing and film production, and also noted that the company was looking into using the brand in both television and online video.