An enterprising Watch Dogs forum member has been asking voice actors around for word on the actual release date. While most of the voice actors have not commented or reticent to give a date, no less than Aiden Pierce, AKA Noam Jenkins, has given a tangible (if not specific) date: May or June of this year.
@MadsDroger I don't know! Sorry!
— Amber Goldfarb (@ambergoldfarb) January 25, 2014
@MadsDroger wrapped it up just recently in fact. They're still building and adding more awesome. No release date yet but will be this year.
— aaron douglas (@theaarondouglas) January 25, 2014
@MadsDroger I've been told May or June.
— Noam Jenkins (@noamjenkins) January 25, 2014
What does this mean, exactly? Going back to previous statements, we know that Watch Dogs has been in development since 2009, although we did not hear anything about it until 2012. As it is, the game has been worked on for five years, what used to pass for an entire console generation.
As what could then be called a ‘next-gen’ game, however, perhaps this should not be such a surprise. Those of you unfamiliar with the foibles of next-gen development should understand that the 1st batch of games made for a new system have to contend with changing system specs, which can often lead to issues and constant revisions throughout development. As should be fresh in the minds of anyone who owns a Wii U, Playstation 4, and especially and Xbox One, launch games do not always faithfully represent a system’s full capabilities as a result.
However, for Watch Dogs it goes beyond that. Ubisoft has taken a brave position by committing to ports of the game for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows, alongside those mentioned above. It’s a game Ubisoft definitely wants everyone to play, whatever their console of choice, and building a following like that will naturally run into huge investments.
At this point, it would seem that Watch Dogs is a game that is too big to fail. With that in mind, delaying release from the initial projection of Q4 2013 was an easy decision. We hope and expect Ubisoft to deliver a satisfying experience to all players, irregardless of platform choice or release date.
