I was terribly disappointed by the delay of Watch Dogs, even if I did understand that it was for the best. Maybe the game needed more polishing, or maybe Ubisoft just wanted to clear the decks so that it wouldn’t compete with GTA V and AC IV: Black Flag. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t believe in their product.
Speaking to IGN, North American president Laurent Detoc explained that despite some issues he’s optimistic about Watch Dogs:
I actually believe that Watch Dogs could have ended up being the best-rated game on next gen if it came out at launch. We wanted it to be even higher. The whole package is there already.
If the whole package is there, why delay? He goes on to say that Rockstar already had a strong brand attachment from fans, as in the case of GTA V, that makes people want to give it a 100% review. He is hoping for the same brand loyalty to Watch Dogs down the line. That said, people want to see the growth and changes in Watch Dogs that necessitated the delay. Detoc said the hard part is deciding when to re-reveal the game. When asked when we could expect to see something, he simply replied:
When we have something good to show again.
[…] It’s not just software. It’s art. There’s a lot of judgment and perception that comes into this. It’s extremely complicated, with a lot of moving parts. Especially with a game like Watch Dogs. We’re breaking ground on a number of different gameplay assets. We’re in uncharted territory.
I’m still excited for Watch Dogs, and I hope that the extra few months mean that the game can get polished. At least I should have some extra time to play it. I’m just concerned that it was all a ploy to build up the game’s hype – I’m always afraid of overhyping.
Last Updated: December 18, 2013
Brian Murphy
December 18, 2013 at 10:31
Completely agree with you Zoe, I was really disappointed at the delay, but if it’s for the better of the game so be it. Everything I’ve seen thus far looks badass, and unless they pulled a new star wars trailer and packed everything good into a short period of time, I think it’ll sell extremely well.
Can’t wait to get my hands on it.
oVg
December 18, 2013 at 10:33
I bet you all a muffin that when it is released that it will have a game breaking bug that will require a day one patch.
Her Highness the Hipster
December 18, 2013 at 10:39
just because it’s a game about hacking? 😛
oVg
December 18, 2013 at 10:50
😛 because they had to remove U-Pay. How are they going to make you register now? Patches, redeem codes and season passes.
I must admit that I ate my words when Far Cry 3 came out without a single hitch. But after seeing the bugs in Ass Creed NEXT GEN I have a feeling that this game needs much more time for a bit of polish.
Either way I see that 2 years from now all games will require internet to play, DRM will never be mentioned again.
ToshZA
December 18, 2013 at 10:52
Most games, and all new consoles need internet. Its really annoying actually, but that’s where it’s all gone. To hell. Or the internet, same thing. 😛
oVg
December 18, 2013 at 11:00
EXPENSIVE MEDIA HUB (P.C.) MANDATORY INSTALL with uncompressed code all at 39 Gigs, DRM, terminate second hand games, PATCHES, FIRMWARE UPDATES, DLC, season passes, redeem codes, co-op only games, death to the single player, ownership of your media from MP3s to cloud ownership, DATA FARMING, ADVERTISING AND FUCKING PIZZA.
That is what I see every time the word NEXT GEN is mentioned.
oVg
December 18, 2013 at 11:02
Oh and shit hot looking games that we played 10 years ago.
Alien Emperor Trevor
December 18, 2013 at 11:02
You forgot social, facebook & skype.
oVg
December 18, 2013 at 11:10
I do not have friends so that extra R999 camera internet feature is lost on me.
I PLAY games. But just not NEXT GEN GAMES because they are nothing but Trojan horses in Golden Horse armor for the quick fix cookie Skylander generation.
FORZA 5 and its micro transactions can kiss my ass.
I have FORZA 2, 3 and watched 4. FORZA 2 is still the king. Keep your interior view, I get better lap times in grill cam.
GT5 is better than GT6. I bring up these examples because It seems people keep falling for the blatant milking of these franchises.
Lets make the clouds look better and place this horrible sun glare on the tar mac so people think it is NEW. lol same code just added filters. But those shadows in GT6 are lame.
NEEEEEED MORE COFFEEEEE Rant TBC 🙂
Alien Emperor Trevor
December 18, 2013 at 11:15
Don’t accidentally drink decaf & fall asleep 😉
oVg
December 18, 2013 at 11:45
ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…….. …. .. . . .
Alien Emperor Trevor
December 18, 2013 at 11:21
It seems that the more sequels a game has, the more shallow it becomes. It stops being about what made the game great – which is normally original gameplay or story. Instead they focus on shiny graphics & explosions & forget what made the series popular in the first place. I understand why they do – pretty graphics & shallow games are easy & faster, compelling games are difficult & take longer. And it’s all about the next big score – blockbuster mentality. Plus brand loyalty makes people automatically predisposed to buying the sequel. It’s not the crappy sequel of a great game that suffers in sales, it’s the one that’s released after that.
CAE9872
December 18, 2013 at 15:52
Have to ask – how do you “watch” 4…4 was good though.
oVg
December 18, 2013 at 16:11
Some FORZA fan played it at work. He did not like how far you sit from the windscreen while in cockpit view and said it is no different to 3. He is the sort of petrol head that went to the midnight launch of GT5. He is as disillusioned as I about the MILKING that is going on and does not understand why GT6 looks worse than 5.
Alien Emperor Trevor
December 18, 2013 at 10:40
This game looks good, I hope it is.
Purple_Dragon
December 18, 2013 at 10:44
Its probably going to be a good game but then I remember how hyped up remember me was. So will wait for reviews.
ToshZA
December 18, 2013 at 10:53
I’m not really excited for this game. I can’t explain why, it just doesn’t tickle my awesome bones. They’re all awesome, btw, but they’re not tickled.
CAE9872
December 18, 2013 at 15:49
I know how you feel… To be frank (I will whisper this) GTA V didnt tickle them bones either. As for Watch Dogs, Ubi spent so much time showing it ALL the DAMN TIME I felt I had already played it. Let it rest a bit…
MaSeKind
December 18, 2013 at 13:25
I think this could be awesome and really wanted to pre-order one of the special editions, but after the problems we had with the AC4 release I don’t know anymore. Hopefully the extra few months will give them time to get the release perfect, although I thought after we had to wait a month longer for the AC4 Pc release that they were using that time to polish the game. Wrong!
Willem Swanepoel
December 19, 2013 at 09:29
Their day one DLC items were not ready yet, so they are working on that till the release 😉