Ubisoft delayed the launch of its highly anticipated Watch Dogs citing reasons of fine tuning and further polishing, but analysts were quick to jump the gun claiming that GTA V’s over the top popularity, impending launch of Battlefield 4 and Call of Duty: Ghosts are the three main reasons behind Ubisoft’s decision.
Watch Dogs was being offered with PlayStation 4 as a bundle by Amazon and there are hundreds of thousands of fans waiting for the title, but the delay led Amazon to pull the bundle. Further the retailer also started giving options to those who pre-ordered the bundle to either choose another bundle or opt for just the console without any game.
Ubisoft was quick to inform that Watch Dogs required fine tuning and further polishing to ensure that the game performs at its best and users have a wonderful game play experience. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said that the delay was a tough decision, but it was taken “to fully realize the major potential of” their new creations.” Ubisoft even delayed The Crew and both the games are likely to debut in Spring 2014.
However, industry experts are of the opinion that the reason provided by Ubisoft isn’t rightly the case. A game that was to be offered as part of the PlayStation 4 bundle isn’t expected to be in a state that would require over 4 months of polishing and fine tuning. The reasons are entirely different – ones that are quite understandable from a business perspective.
GTA V is showing no signs of slowing down even after a month and sales are going on strong. Within a month the game managed to rake in billions of dollars in revenue and even managed to knock down seven world records and found a place in Guinness Book of World Records.
Further, Battlefield 4 is expected to launch sometime this month itself and with impending launch of Call of Duty: Ghosts, Ubisoft has calculated a safe way out. It has shown that it is in charge of its own destiny and won’t leave the fate of its games in the hands of its fans. Further, the delay will not only allow Ubisoft to launch its titles during a less competitive time, but will also allow it to iron out bugs and issues that may crop up with the online versions of its games as well.
A brilliant move!
