Ubisoft bought Driver and its Newcastle-based UK creator Reflections Interactive from Atari in 2006, but the game hasnt seen a fully-fledged sequel in the five years since.
Pannell added: Despite the fact theres not been a Driver game for over five years, it is still in the top five Ubisoft brands in terms of awareness.
Ubisoft wants to build on that and turn the game into the driving genres equivalent of Creed, said Pannell.
Of course Driver and Assassins Creed are two very different types of game, but they both have mainstream appeal and the ability to capture the imagination of a wide spectrum of core and casual gamers. The ambition for all our studios is to make games that have the scope, depth, lasting appeal, enjoyment factor and sales potential of games like Assassins Creed.
"From an investment point of view we are treating both franchises like true blockbuster titles, so the ambition is there.
The marketing plan is still to be finalised, but the firm said E3 will play a big part in raising trade awareness as well as a mass market push.
We have a real opportunity to take this mainstream due to the broad appeal of the franchise, said brand manager Jan Sanghera.
Driver is most definitely back and the marketing campaign will make sure it stays firmly on the map for this year.
