Ubisoft’s open-world game Watch Dogs has been pushed back to the second quarter of 2014, the publisher just announced on its blog. “Our ambition from the start with Watch Dogs has been to deliver something that embodies what we wanted to see in the next-generation of gaming,” the company wrote. “It is with this in mind that we’ve made the tough decision to delay the release until (northern) spring 2014.”
Watch Dogs, originally slated for a November release, was due to be a big launch game for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, which will both be out that month. It’s also slated for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U and PC.
“We know a lot of you are probably wondering: Why now?” Ubisoft wrote. “We struggled with whether we would delay the game. But from the beginning, we have adopted the attitude that we will not compromise on quality. As we got closer to release, as all the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place in our last push before completion, it became clear to us that we needed to take the extra time to polish and fine tune each detail so we can deliver a truly memorable and exceptional experience.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you. We thoroughly enjoy and appreciate the way you respond on the web, at events, press conferences and other opportunities we have to interact. Your passion keeps us motivated.
“We can’t wait to see you in Chicago next spring. We are confident you’ll love this game as much as we love working on it.”
Ubisoft also announced today that their open-world racing game, The Crew, will be delayed until the next fiscal year, which ranges from April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015.
Comments
66 responses to “Watch Dogs Delayed Until Q2 2014”
One less game for my PS4 next month 🙁
Guess I won’t be switching on my shiny PS4 until next year then……kidding. But hey, I can’t say I wasn’t excited for this on day one.
This is pretty big news. I know quite a few people who preordered an Xbox One (or PS4, if that’s the way you went) just for this game.
This.
Kind of glad i resisted the urge to pre-order now.
Bit dickish they did it so last minute, after all the media and advertising they did.
This for me too, was one of the reasons why I pre-ordered a console … guess will possibly look at cancelling it and get one next year some time (I will have the xbox anyway till then)
I really think this is why they are announced the delay so late. There is no way they didn’t know this delay was coming a lot earlier but I’m guessing they committed to both Sony and MS that they would have this as a launch title – a super late announcement was a compromise.
This pisses me off to no end actually, I pre ordered this game under the assumption that it was GUARANTEED, (for fucks sake this game should have been gold already and less than a month before release LOL MASSIVE DELAYS, its pathetic).
I have this game bought locally so i have something to play on day 1 of the launch and I have every other game being ordered from amazon (USA) (both ps4 and XB1, because ps4 games come out over there and arrive here before ours are out). So now I am going to have no actual launch games, fantastic.
Before anyone states FIFA and Killer instinct, both of those are download’s and given the fact it will be a console launch and there will be 2 million people all trying to download both those games (and the fact they are likely to be 20 odd GB) means it will take days to download. Even more if the day 1 update takes a long time.
Actually I’m so annoyed by this I’m canceling my pre order of the game and will probably just end up renting it instead.
^Self entitled gamers everone.
The dev decides not to comprimise on quality and you throw a hissy fit because it doesn’t cater to your plans.
No not gimping quality would have been announcing this delay 3 months ago, when it would have been entirely apparent, waiting this long and constantly lying to everyone is a massive kick in the teeth and I have EVERY right to be pissed off by it.
But no I have been constantly bombarded by advertising (even the fucking day before this announcement from UBI)both from ubisoft DIRECTLY and many other gaming sites and everything else in between that watchdogs “launch launch launch”. Shit there is even a fucking LAUNCH CONSOLE BUNDLE with watchdogs in it.
So yes this is annoying, and it has nothing to do with entitlement you fucking halfwit. So just because you don’t have standards doesn’t mean those with actual intelligence don’t either.
Your also delusional if you think they are doing this to improve the game, more than likely they are delaying it for no other reason than they don’t think people will buy 2 open world games at once, their precious AC4 and this, which they also would have known months ago.
I think I’ll give them (and MS and Sony) the benefit of the doubt and assume they’ve just bawked last-minute in the face of the success of GTAV.
I know a lot of people (I think Kotaku might have even written an article about it) feel like they’ve had their fill of open world cities for the next few months at least.
I’m still hopeful for Watch Dogs but I hadn’t pre-ordered it for a few reasons, primarily it being an ambitious looking, early generation title from Ubisoft who have a habit of rushing their first gen games out half-cooked only to nail it with a more considered sequel (see Assassins Creed); as well as the potential for it to be a dull game-world compared to the brilliant GTAV.
I’ve gone with a very safe pre-order list for the next gen (Forza, Battlefield, free FIFA) and I’m waiting to see how the more ambitious titles turn out when they are reviewed.
exactly what i was thinking.
they saw how polished GTAV was and thought that if they didn’t at least match that then all of their innovation may be overlooked if the game itself was buggy.
This is definitely disappointing but i would rather it be delayed and done right then rushed out for launch
As long as they use the next 6 months to work on it and actually make it better.
The lateness of the bail suggests that maybe it was purely to avoid comparisons with GTA as well as the rest of the launch titles rather than an issue with the product itself. I mean surely if it was 6 months worth of flawed they would have known it earlier than just before it was to go to the printer.
It wouldn’t surprise me if they are just putting it on the shelf 6 months because they know it’s not GTA great, know it’s going to take them 5 years to make it GTA great, and know that 6 months will allow them to release the same product to a much emptier market.
Honestly it’s one of 2 things, another Rayman fiasco where they are moving the release to get better sales (either because of GTa or they think people wont buy both watchdogs AND AC4) or that the game is basically broken beyond belief.
Because any minor stuff could have simply been a short delay, but almost 6 months indicates they have a whopper of a problem.
On top of the fact if it is bug related they would have known about this a LONG time ago if they needed such a excessive delay.
So either way im not impressed, either its broken and I’ve lost confidence or they are purposefully delaying it which gimps my launch and annoys me, so they have all but lost my sale either way.
Ugh, pathetic.
Agree, was not expecting that. Such a massive delay so late in the game (pun not intended).
DISAPPOINTED
I was planning a big PC upgrade for this, might wait now..
Oh well. This is about the only launch title I was interested in. At least I know I’ve got longer to save before I get a PS4 now :/
Nooooo that was the only game I was going to buy for PS4 because none of the other titles really grabbed me.
Guess I’ll be playing the free version of Driveclub for a while…
Its coming to PC, no reason to buy a next gen console… will still look better on the PC.
You also won’t have to worry about GTAV making Watch Dogs look lame, so that’s working out well for you too 😉
Except it’s all but confirmed that GTAV is coming to PC, so joke’s on you.
Man I was taking to piss. Hense the lame winking face. Good to see I managed to upset at least a few overly uptight folks though.
I agree with you, I’m pretty sure they’re waiting for current gen GTA V to stop selling 100 billion copies and then they’ll announce two next gen versions and a PC version concurrently near E3 next year. Why cannibalise their own market before then while the current gen has such a massive install base?
Sucks ass for people who want the game on PC now though. They are getting bent over to appease the console market. If there is a joke, it is on them.
“But from the beginning, we have adopted the attitude that we will not compromise on quality. ”
Yeah right. I’ve played the Assassin’s Creed games, and lets just say some compromises were made. Anyway, I hope this irons out a lot of the bugs and glitches in Watch Dogs.
They prob delayed it to give Creed IV the main spotlight at launch
This. I reckon Watch Dogs was probably ACIV’s biggest competition so they’ve decided to spread them out a bit.
Ass Creed is its own worst enemy – the games are huge – I’m still playing thru Brotherhood FFS – how is anyone other than teenagers able to keep up with their release schedule.
Wow, they really waited until the 11th hour to announce it… :\
Yeah. Unfortunately, this leads me to believe that they feel it’s irredeemably flawed, so they’ll aim for a “non-competitive” launch.
I’ll be happy to be proved wrong, but a (potentially) 7 month delay doesn’t inspire confidence.
I’m just hoping they’re going for a Valve approach with time…and also trying to make their new IP as perfect as possible.
This is exactly what it screams to me, the game should have already been gold and been in production. For them to delay it and not just patch in the few tweaks seems to indicate there are major issues.
As a result i’m cancelling my order and likely will only rent it in the end.
Funny though, that they believe it is irredeemably flawed and requires another 5 months to fix, but they did not know this until a few weeks before launch.
Ugh. This was my main game for the PS4. Guess I’ll have to get something less like LEGO Marvel or Madden 25
So remember all the non-stop complaining from WiiU owners when their brand new console didn’t really have any games for the first 6 months…? Yep, looks like it’s gonna be that X 2 in the near future…
I disagree, the games available at launch for the next gen consoles are better than the current WiiU line up.
Yeah I’m with Shadow on this one, both consoles will have comparable line-ups with the WiiU within a week of launch and certainly by mid-2014.
Super Mario Bros 3DS WiiU version or whatever it’s called (the one with new costumes), Pikmin and a 10 year old Zelda game will probably still be the only really good games on the WiiU by the end of this year.
Every console that’s ever been released has had a quiet period between the rush of launch games and the next 6-9 months. People will still whinge, but at least we know the Xbone/ PS4 will receive all the next gen games from the major publishers, and by E3 next year we’ll be seeing real next-gen games to look forward to the same way we saw the Assassins Creeds, Gears of Wars and Bioshocks earlier this generation.
Also if I’m not mistaken the Xbone will be getting Titanfall, Destiny(?) and now Watchdogs within the first six months of next year. I think the WiiU got a Wario minigame collection. That’s a hefty discrepancy in releases.
I’m not too disappointed, this news takes the pressure off of my wallet come launch day.
Yeah there are already a few good games coming out this month. Makes me think whatever will be happening with Division?
Damn, I was really looking forward to playing this, this year. Every video looked like it was nearly finished and ready to go, like many assassins creed semi finished games that hit the shelves before they should have lol.
No matter, will wait. Still looking forward to it.
This is going to be an issue as there are official watchdog PS4 bundles in europe and elsewhere. Also leaving this to a month before release. Ouch.
Completely forgot about that lol. Looking forward on hearing about that.
god dammit!
i have first batch PS4 launch and this is the only game i have pre-ordered!?!?!
poop nuggetes
Ah well, see what else there’s on offer. I’m sure there are other launch titles that will entice you.
At least you got a launch PS4. A lot of people won’t be able to get one till Watch Dogs comes out next year.
Ugh ugh ugh.
The only games in the 2nd half of 2013 that I have been waiting for, in order of importance:
DayZ: Status unknown, may or may not come out in 2013, or at all.
Watch Dogs: Delayed.
XCOM expansion: On track.
Could be worse, I guess, but not by much!
Eh, good on them. I’d rather see them release it when they’re happy with it rather than release a broken game and have everyone hate on them for it.
Exactly. Rushing games (or any other product out) just to meet deadlines is bad practice. Sure we’re disappointed but there’s lots of other good games that are coming out and hopefully this way we’ll have a more solid game when it does get released.
Yeah, developers are damned if they do, damned if they don’t. It does suck that for a lot of people, this was their game they were hyped for in a catalogue of launch titles that is typically light on big hitting titles.
Same thing happened with GTAV. Rockstar delayed it beacuse they were worried it wouldn’t be up to scratch. Now look at it. One of the best games this gen (IMO). This just means we’re gonna get a better game in the end.
I’m probably in the minority when i say YES! It means I have a little more time until I get a PS4 so i can catch up on games and save a little more cash.
Also it’ll hopefully mean a better game.
It’s better this way. A quality product that’s been delayed is arguably better than a buggy one that arrives early.
I can already see the net filled with rage from people filled with a sense of self-entitlement. Sure it’s disappointing that we won’t have it for when the new consoles come out, but at least we get a more solid game as the developers wanted it to be when it does come out.
Plus there’s lots of other good games to look forward to at launch!
it’s a shame that Watch Dogs has been delayed with release date (for the current-gen consoles and PC anyway) just over a month away….well I’ll be happy if the following things are done
1. The game is mostly bug free and everything is available on day one (I say mostly bug free because no game can have no bugs and the multiplayer components are a big drawcard)
2. The PC version gets even more optimisation so it can run smoothly on PC (which is funny as the game is designed with nVidia tech but the next-gen consoles are all AMD tech)
For Ubisoft, this is going one of their big original IP’s and better to delay it then like @shadow said release a game that is a bugged up mess that requires a bunch of patches and complaints from gamers everywhere
My theory is that Watch Dogs was pushed out til 2014 not just for fine-tuning but to get away from the jugganaut that is GTA V and have a big release themselves (not knowing what other big titles are coming out at that time) and want to go for various gaming sites GOTY awards
Well, I was really looking forward to Watch Dogs for my launch XBone, but it can’t be helped. I’ll still get my Xbone at launch, still probably use it to play BF4 online, and I might as well pick up Forza 5 as well. These will at least kill some time and I get to enjoy the console. Meanwhile, I have plenty of great games on my 360’s pile of shame.
Looks like Killzone will be getting all my attention. At least that’s $100 less I need to find by next month I guess. Now I can look at importing it
Ubisoft already has several big titles to come out, and it’s possible that Watch Dogs is being given more time for polish, but also more time for marketing. With all the big titles like GTA, Call of Duty and it’s own Assassins Creed, a new IP needs it’s own time to breathe.
First point: This is Ubisoft. They don’t delay to improve the quality of a title.
Second point: They were effectively releasing a title that was likely to cannibalise the sales of one of their biggest franchises. I saw this delay a mile off – which is why I held off on ordering a PS4 and upgrading my PC for this title.
One the positive side, this may mean we may get a better game if they actually use the time productively. I was really concerned this would be another Ass Creed situation – great idea, have to wait for the sequel for them to get it right.
Useless MORONS @ Ubisoft.
Seriously, it’s weeks away and they pull it?!
I was really looking forward to this and pre-ordered it on PC.
Screw this game, I hope it flops now. :rageface:
I’m actually alright with the delay. Gives me less games to buy and more time to spend on the ones i do buy for next gen. Also, can’t help but think if GTA 5 had something to do with this…
My thoughts exactly.
Pretty tough to be an open world game set in a modern(ish) environment that comes out in the next 6 months.
“So you mean I CAN’T dog fight over the desert, parachute onto an enormous mountain, dirt bike down through the forest into the railway tunnels and come out into a huge city?!?! This game is LAME!”
Hmm not too bad for me actually. I will have NBA2K14, Forza 5 and CoD to play anyway. Lessens the backlog for me – it will be all Forza for a good month or so anyway!
I don’t really mind, the PS4 I pre-ordered from EB Games is 2014 stock. Now I can get the game and console at the same time.
*deep breath*NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
*prepares to /wrists*
*eyes towering pile of shame*
Oh. Nevermind.
God you gamers are a whiney bunch.
“Waaaaahhhh, they delayed the game”
“Waaaaahhhhh, the game is buggy, they should have waited”
Heh. Don’t talk like you’re not one of us. US gamers are a whiny bunch. 😉
Hahaha I literally preordered this on GMG 5 minutes before reading this…
Call me jaded, but I can’t help feeling that they crunched the numbers and decided they’ll sell more DLC once the next gen consoles have a larger user base. As an added benefit they’ll get more publicity for their product next year. Console release narratives tend to focus on the hardware and who is winning the “race”. Unless it’s Mario or a select few other titles, release games tend to get lost in the shuffle.
Pretty obvious that Ubi reconsidered launching this in the same week as Assassins Creed 4.
very disappointed as a PC gamer, I highly anticipated this game more than GTAV, we haven’t got a decent third person game this year -_-
Gdi… Killzone seems like the only decent release title for the PS4 now, guess i’ll have to change my preorder over to that.
I preordered as well but now I’m going to change my preorder now as destiny will be out by then and titanfall and the Division. My time will go to these three mostly destiny the ppl who was making watchdogs will sell a lot less copies now because of this. They screwed up badly here.