Watch_Dogs was certainly on my list of “games that will make me buy a console at launch,†and I imagine many others had a similar list. That being said, it was disappointing when Ubisoft announced that the game would be delayed to the Spring of 2014, thus ensuring it would miss the launches of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and the entire 2013 holiday season. Ubisoft’s North American President Laurent Detoc elaborated on what was behind the decision and what he thought of Watch_Dogs‘ potential as a PS4/Xbox One launch title. “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,†Mr. Detoc explained in a recent interview with IGN, “It’s not just about delaying for the sake of delaying it. No matter how hard we try, we also put out games that are not good quality, unfortunately. It’s not because we go out and say, ‘great, let’s make a piece of junk and put it out there.’ It’s really painful to us. But some games, you just can’t make them that much better because of how they’ve been progressing. Part of the decision to delay Watch Dogs is also that.†Watch_Dogs is being developed by Ubisoft Montreal alongside Ubisoft Reflections and Ubisoft Romania and will be published by Ubisoft for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U, and PC in Q2 2014.
