Watch Dogs pre-delay budget was $68 million

Freefalling into the end of 2013, one game that everybody was waiting for was Watch Dogs. Originally meant to be released on current and new-gen consoles, those plans took a different turn when Ubisoft decided to delay the game until the second quarter of 2014. And it’s a decision that cost them quite a few bucks.

French business site Challenges via Nintendo Everything revealed that prior to the game delay, it had cost Ubisoft a cool European total of €50 million to produce Watch Dogs. That’s $68 million, or around R748 million. Or 3.4 not-a-compounds equipped with fire-proof swimming pools in case of Speedo emergencies.

Expect that total to go up though. Games such as Watch Dogs are no doubt going to start up the media engine, which means previews, print advertising, website takeovers and television adverts which all add up to quite the prettiest of pennies. Combine that with the original marketing push, and you can imagine that Ubisoft has dropped quite a bit of coin so far on the game that we don’t know about.

Still, Ubisoft may end up still making a nice chunk of change on this game if it lives up to expectations. Pre-order sales are strong, and keeping the game out of the November/December launch period was a smart move.

The market was already crowded with games, with titles such as Batman: Arkham Origins,Beyond: Two Souls,Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts and Ubisoft’s own Assassin’s Creed 4 looking for a slice of thirteenth cheque pie.

And just from a pure business standpoint, that delay makes sense. But with all such games, it’s most likely time that has been well spent on the game, polishing it up a little bit more for release and ironing out any lingering bugs.

I’ve got high hopes for Watch Dogs, and I’m keen to see how it tackles the benchmark set by GTA V when it eventually arrives.

Last Updated: January 17, 2014