Ubisoft Admits ‘Watch Dogs’ Delay Hurt Them, Claims ‘No Choice’


The Watch Dogs delay has obviously hurt Ubisoft on several levels, but the production company says they had “no choice,” and felt it was the “right thing to do.”

Since the delay of their latest flagship title, Ubisoft has seen a major drop in interest from gamers, but what the gamers might not understand is that you can’t rush a quality product. In order to make their initial Watch Dogs PS4 and Xbox One deadline, they would have had to rush the game and probably end up with a glitchy mess which could have rivaled Saints Row IV‘s release. Ubisoft didn’t want that, and it even cost them extra to postpone the game half a year.

Ubisoft “knows” that the extra time they put into the game will be worth it in the long term.

Ubisoft marketing executive Tony Key said of the Watch Dogs delay:

“This is not an easy decision to make for any company. On the day we announced that, I think our stock dropped 40 percent or some ridiculous number.”

“We had no choice, despite the fact that it put us in a tough financial position in the short term. We’re a long-term company, with a long-term vision, and Watch Dogs for us is a long-term play. We had no choice. We knew it was the right thing to do, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less.”

The Watch Dogs delay definitely hurt more than their financial plans. The fans appeared to have given up on the title, especially in the midst of false rumors that Ubisoft had abandoned the game entirely, beginning with its trademark. Being so soon after the disappointing release of the long-delayed Duke Nukem Forever, it probably left a bad taste in gamers’ mouths hearing that Watch Dogs wasn’t going to hit its original release date.

Key continued explaining the decision to delay Ubisoft’s next big franchise:

“The Assassin’s Creed team has gotten so much experience now in working on a schedule that they’ve found that delicate balance of being able to put their heart and soul into the game and still making a schedule work. But a new brand, as you’ve seen time and time again from publishers everywhere, it’s very difficult to make that work.”

“The decision was made very late … It was a lot of late nights and crazy reactions to putting everything on hold at the last minute. It’s the least of our problems to put marketing on hold, compared to getting the game right, but it’s a lot of work for a marketing team when something like that moves. You have to reallocate all your resources on a new schedule, you’ve got your retailers to deal with, who are already running marketing for your game in some cases. Slips like that are incredibly inefficient.”

Knowing the full story behind the Watch Dogs delay, does it make you more excited about the confirmed release date? Ubisoft is ready to put your fears behind you on May 27.

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