That’s right kiddos, 1 month before the launches of the PS4 and XBOX One we have lost a launch title. Granted it’s pushed back for the 360, PS3, PC, and WiiU, but this was supposed to be one of the marquee games for next gen and was even used as a bundle by many retailers. The official word from the Ubisoft blog is:
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. It is with this in mind that we’ve made the tough decision to delay the release until spring 2014.
We know a lot of you are probably wondering: Why now? 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.
Sad Panda 🙁
***UPDATE***
Amazon and Gamestop have both stated that they will be honoring the preorders of the consoles in November, but Amazon isn’t as specific about the details.
Amazon:
For those of you who pre-order the Watch Dogs PlayStation 4 bundle—don’t worry—you will still be getting your Playstation 4 (without Watch Dogs) based on your current delivery estimate. We are adjusting the orders now and will update you once we know more.
GameStop:
With the news that Ubisoft has delayed the release of the highly-anticipated title Watch Dogs until next year, GameStop is contacting customers who had reserved PlayStation 4 and Xbox One bundles featuring the game. Customers can elect to keep their current bundle orders and their consoles will ship as scheduled with the game shipping separately once it is available or customers can choose another bundle to replace their current order. Customers should also note that there may be a difference in the price if selecting another bundle and that all reserved orders will be charged upon shipment.
Applause to both outlets for promptly jumping on this and thanks to Kotaku for relaying this information out.
Wooooow. That is just insane, especially with all the Pre-orders with this game bundled. If anything this is more of a nightmare for retailers haha.
Thankfully Amazon and GameStop are working today.
[…] another sad turn of events, DRIVECLUB has now been pushed back until Q1 2014 (following in the footsteps of Watch Dogs). The Next-Gen launch was already shaping up to be a little lean and this does not help at all. […]