Ben-DutkaUbisoft delayed Watch Dogs so the developers could make the game better. That's the simple explanation.
But there are always other factors involved, as Benchmark Company analyst Mike Hickey said during a New York Times interview . Although the stock dove after the announcement, Hickey said it was the right move in the long run because expectations were crazy high and a less-than-stellar product would've been a tremendous letdown.
Furthermore, the success and quality of Grand Theft Auto V may have put additional pressure on Ubisoft:
"The success of Grand Theft Auto V has put a lot of pressure on Watch Dogs. They want it to be their next big franchise."
GTAV set world records in sales and has generated well over $1 billion since its launch on September 17. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said the effect of such a gigantic blockbuster is "generally positive," but the aforementioned pressure is probably very real. Hickey added that Ubisoft "made the right decision" in pushing back Watch Dogs , as it's best to wait and "get it right." That's what's most important.
We'll definitely agree with that.
Related Game(s): Watch Dogs
Still a bit irritated by the delay, but hopefully this will make it a truly fully realised next gen title without it feeling like a cross generational mess.
Oh, and Driveclub is officially delayed until 2014. Looks like I'm going to be playing not much of anything for a while.
I disagree, this would have been a fantastic launch title. Many people were interested in buying a PS4 just for this game (from the moment) So to have it cancelled is not only bad for ubisoft but also for next gen consoles. I still believe this game had a lot of attention going for it and I think the delay has now lessened that impact.
I don't think you're thinking this through. If a chef tells you the food is undercooked and needs more time in the oven would you tell him he's wrong and that you should be served the food right away?
It's disappointing that it's not a launch title, yes, but the decision to delay it is for the best because it's better to receive it finished instead of half baked.
Temjin, that's not really a good example. Chefs don't put deadlines on their foods, then at the last minute, delay it into another quarter of the fiscal year, or rather hours if we're talking about food, unless they have to redo the whole meal.
I don't think any of this delay stuff would've happened if GTAV wasn't around. We're not talking about a minor delay, but a huge one. I think it's much more than just fixing/polishing the game itself, and rather also considering a window launch that is away from other open world games, more specifically GTAV. So no, it's not only a matter of being "ready."
When we are this close to launch, and the game gets delayed for months, you can bet it's more than just bug fixing.
And people continue to say that GTA hype is a good thing. So many games will suffer do to the blind hype of that overrated franchise. I was not interested in WD but if the only reason it was pushed back is because of GTA then that is not a good thing.Now next year will be cramped.GTA is doing more harm than good.
that's well and good Daus but I don't agree with you 😉
Last edited by Temjin001 on 10/18/2013 6:15:16 PM
maybe they also realized that they'd rather not have their new IP competing with one of their most established franchises
David Nelson (World) pretending to be an analyst: "Watch Dogs being delayed was a good decision because it would clash with another Ubisoft sandbox title and people still busy with GTA V, AND because it isn't done."
Paycheck please.
Great work World. The check is in the mail. 🙂
Arigatou 🙂
This was one of the few games I was planning to get at launch. I'm a little disappointed that they were about to release a game that needed more time. I'm still going to buy it and I'm kind of glad Ubisoft delayed it. I hope that GTAV has the same effect on other developers if it did indeed inspire improvments in WatchDogs.
Better done right then done wrong.
Wish Sega could tell themselves that at times. Looks like their new Wii U exclusive Sonic title is a flop.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 10/18/2013 2:05:25 PM
Total agree with you Temjin001.
So is this now going to be a next gen exclusive only because of the delay? Because if it's still coming to the PS3 next year, then I think not much will change. It's just an excuse and maybe the real reason is what David (a.k.a World) mentioned above. But that just me.
Personally, I'm not into this game. For me, it feels like assassin's creed in a futuristic settings. Unless, if you really can hack and alter the world and every NPC around you, that will be somehow great. Oh wait, that will be like a GTA game.
"the right decision"
like they had a choice
Well… duh. The game wasn't ready for release. It would have been going to head-to-head with ACIV, and the similarities between them meant that they'd be cannibalising each others' sales slightly. Even without GTA's release it was a damnably bad idea and it boggles the mind that the honchos at Ubisoft only just worked that out a month from release.
yes we agree we don't want a game thats been being made for like 5 years to turn out rubbish we want that awsome game that we can play for hrs so yeah i makes sense to make sure 100% that the games is perfect as possible so as to not dissapoint the gamers so those sales follow and yea some people will have spent their money and might only have enough for a few and watch dogs might have missed out(not for this guy who was getting watch dogs and AC4) but yeah i think it was a good call no matter how much it would have been nice to play it over the summer i'll still have AC4 and BF4 and knack and kill zone:SF and pokemon to keep me busy haha.
as always
happy gaming =)
oh bullshit!
you dont delay a game a week before it due to go gold just because it needs more dev time!
all the QA, certification costs, they would of delayed it ages ago if it really needed that much more time.
there is one, and only one reason why watch dogs, and even driveclub are delayed.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
in the case of watchdogs ubisoft knows its sales and reputation will be hurt by GTAV, everyones going to be comparing it to that, and that will hurt its sales along with people not wanting 2 of the same game and they already have GTA, so that hurting its sales too.
plus they probably dont want it stealing thunder from ACIV, especially since both were next gen launch titles.
most people only buy one or two new games with a new console, and one will always be a first party exclusive, so they dident want watch dogs stealing that sale away from AC.
not to mention ubisoft does not have any big name franchises set for next year now do they?
FC4 wont be out next year, SC wont, GR wont, R6 wont thats apparently late 2015 at the earliest!
yea they have the crew and the division, but both are next gen exclusive, and heavily focused MP games, last time i checked neither have a campaign mode so i guess you could call them MMOs i know the division is.
so there hardly a safe bet like what AC or WD would be.
third piece to the revenue reason for delaying WD would be hey they need a big name for next years sales.
AC will be more than enough to carry them over the line for this year.