Watch Dogs, a game people who own next-gen consoles are patiently waiting for, was meant to be a next-gen launch title – but got delayed for polish. Many believe that it has some sort of link to the established Assassin’s Creed universe, but according to Ubisoft, it actually has a little more to do with another Ubisoft franchise; Driver.
In fact, it started its life as a prototype for a Driver game, Ubisoft’s Laurent Detoc told IGN.
“Watch Dogs wasn’t started as Watch Dogs. They were working on a driving engine, working on something. We had the Driver license. This was years ago. Then we were thinking, ‘no, this is not the way we want to go with a driving game,’ so we cancelled that and restarted,” he said.
“It’s not like Watch Dogs started as Watch Dogs. The Watch Dogs project was initially another game. At some point it changed. That’s at least three years ago, and then the Watch Dogs project reused some of the work that had been done on this driving engine.”
That’s not to say it was a Driver game that got repurposed and spun in a different direction; rather that bits and pieces of a cancelled game.
“The decision was made that there was another driving game being made and this one should be an open-world game where the guy comes out of the car and does other things. Then the team decides to reshuffle itself entirely. A few other people come in, a new creative director, and then they start a new game,” he said.
“I wouldn’t say that Driver became Watch Dogs, because that’s not true. That’s not really what happens. What happens is that a game gets cancelled, and then you take pieces of that game to make a new one. We could have had another driving engine from another team in another place, and then it would have been used by the Watch Dogs team.”
The last Driver Game, Driver: San Francisco, was a rather good game that people largely ignored for some reason. Pity. Watch Dogs is out on everything next year, in the Northern Hemisphere’s Spring.
Last Updated: December 19, 2013
Willem Swanepoel
December 19, 2013 at 09:40
Watch Dogs will be out with a day one DLC and a huge patch … watch this space!! :-)~
Hammersteyn
December 19, 2013 at 09:45
You forgot season pass 😛
oVg
December 19, 2013 at 10:03
Tiss the season to be jolly, tralala la lala la la
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ all year round baby 🙂
Hammersteyn
December 19, 2013 at 10:04
Even Rudolf is pissed
http://d24w6bsrhbeh9d.cloudfront.net/photo/arpyqmy_460sa.gif
oVg
December 19, 2013 at 10:06
I would be pissed if that FATHER COCA COLA man nutted me.
oVg
December 19, 2013 at 09:47
I already bet a muffin. ALL!!! Games 2 years from now will require DRM, and because they are activated via the internet, the suits can force the devs to meet the retail deadlines and fix it via future patches. THAT is the future.
They did a 180 on the Bone because they know they can do a 180 on the games. So we are all back to square 1.
Hammersteyn
December 19, 2013 at 09:48
Till the market crashes and we get zapped back to the days of Nintendo.
oVg
December 19, 2013 at 09:52
It will not crash. Too many spoilt gamers with fast internet speeds. They disguise DRM via Micro transactions, clouds, patches, redeem codes.
Besides, we live in an age where the parents can be milked for every penny via the Skylander work model.
Gaming will be as strong as ever, but what used to be a luxury hobby is now an elitist luxury.
The peasant off line gamers who expected finished, fixed products have enjoyed their 3 decades of gaming is a thing of the past.
Hammersteyn
December 19, 2013 at 10:04
Bleak, very bleak.
oVg
December 19, 2013 at 10:05
It will not be long before Blade Runners vision takes over and a holographic COCA COLA Bottle is shot out of the Kinect 2 into the center of your living room.
Hammersteyn
December 19, 2013 at 10:06
That was such a good movie, you sir have either been to or seen the future.
Hammersteyn
December 19, 2013 at 09:47
Yup
http://1-media-cdn.foolz.us/ffuuka/board/vp/image/1377/05/1377054022962.jpg
Rock789
December 19, 2013 at 09:51
Really looking forward to Watch Dogs – hope it doesn’t disappoint!
Ah, Driver San Francisco… Such a great game! I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, arcade-type driving game (and no, it’s not all about racing… Far from it!). Such an underrated gem.
Unavengedavo(aka. MadeYouLook)
December 19, 2013 at 10:27
I still say that this game should’ve had hacking elements in it like Uplink!