Watch Dogs delay allowed for more ideas, but 'bigger' concepts saved for sequel

The extra time from the Watch Dogs delay allowed the development team to include more ideas rather than saving them for the sequel, but some bigger-picture concepts were still held back.

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The delay of Watch Dogs meant the development team got to include several ideas that would have otherwise been scrapped and saved for a sequel, according to Ubisoft VP of creative Lionel Raynaud. Even so, though, the team couldn't fit in all of their concepts, and so the company is already hinting at a sequel.

"There were several systems that were not going to be in the game if we released in November," Raynaud told CVG. "There's always the discussion of, 'should we leave them for the sequel, or do we take the time to finish them?' And we decided to take our time and do it right." He went so far as to say that if it hadn't taken that step, "it wouldn't feel new enough to be worth a new IP."

Some big-picture concepts, however, were "saved" for the seemingly inevitable Watch Dogs 2. "There are always things that you have to keep for the next game," he said. "Yes, we have ideas [for a sequel]. Some ideas that we weren't able to get into the game would not have made a difference, while other, bigger ideas that naturally emerged during development were so different that we felt they would have changed the experience."

That matches with previous comments we've heard, that the extra time was used to fill in gaps and add some new features. What was held back for a sequel is anyone's guess, but it sounds more ambitious than the simple polishing possible with a six-month delay.

It's now due on May 27. Ubisoft released a new trailer showing off its near-future version of Chicago today as well.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    March 27, 2014 11:00 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Watch Dogs delay allowed for more ideas, but 'bigger' concepts saved for sequel.

    The extra time from the Watch Dogs delay allowed the development team to include more ideas rather than saving them for the sequel, but some bigger-picture concepts were still held back.

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      March 27, 2014 11:35 AM

      Remember Tomb Raider. If you make a good game the first time around initial sales might not be as well as you liked but over time word of mouth will continue to sell more copies and you'll end up doing better than expected. Glad they are taking time to make the game better.

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      March 27, 2014 1:08 PM

      This game is going to own, I am ready, nice vid.

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      March 27, 2014 1:16 PM

      i watched a trailer on the ps4's store last night. dude, it looks nothing like what was revealed last year. everything looked flat and ps3 like.

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        March 27, 2014 1:19 PM

        That is why you get the PC version, the rest get nurfed, the PS4 should look good is that not the vid you watched though?

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          March 27, 2014 4:26 PM

          This is why I want ps3 and 360 to just die already. I'm tired of all these nice games coming out only for them to be downgraded to fit the needs of an older generation of hardware which cascades into the PC or PS4 versions if any. I'm sure the game will still look nice but I can't help think what we could have had if it wasn't for the old gen dragging us down.

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        March 27, 2014 1:37 PM

        Yeah the latest trailer doesn't even look as good as GTAV.

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        March 27, 2014 1:39 PM

        yeah seems like they had to make enormous downgrades to get it to work on old gen consoles

        oh well

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        March 27, 2014 3:41 PM

        First time seeing the game since they announced the re-release date?

        This game is the reason I don't believe for a second that Assassin's creed Unity will look anything like what that video looked like. AT ALL. Sorry to that shacker who's working on it and says it looks like that when he plays it.

        Go look at some of those other videos that were put out back in Feb and you'll be crushed if you had any kind of high hopes for this game.

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        March 27, 2014 3:57 PM

        IF Ubisoft were to at any point say that they had to make the call to scale the graphics BACK because of the scope of the city and the scale of the game, any rational person would understand this concept.

        Instead, they keep putting out videos and statements that either act like nothing has happened since they went into hibernation, or flat out fucking denying there is a difference between what they were showing before launch and what they are showing now.

        It's not marketing, it more than slightly smacks of the same horseshit as Colonial Marines. You're always going to have internet rage trolls, so just stop lying to people. I can still enjoy a game like this if I'm not hoping it will look better than you know for a fact it will.

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          March 27, 2014 4:04 PM

          For clarity, it still looks great for scope and vistas. It's the texture and lighting (I don't know all the technical terms anymore) that have had serious alterations. Striking in many ways still, but dishonest of them to just blow past all the questions about how it looks now, especially since people essentially already bought it in some cases.

          It's still a game that I am watching closely, and IF I can get the kind of next gen fidelity out of this game I expect out of a game that was bundled I will get it.

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        March 27, 2014 4:18 PM

        I think gta 5 looks better in a lot of ways

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      March 27, 2014 1:18 PM

      [deleted]

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      March 27, 2014 1:50 PM

      Smells like a standard ubisoft title. Great ideas but could be total shit in the execution.

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      March 27, 2014 11:54 PM

      Wow... this video makes the world of GTA 5 look like an empty room

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      March 28, 2014 5:43 AM

      Those graphics are to die for.

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