‘Watch Dogs’ no longer a launch title, delayed until spring 2014; ‘The Crew’ delayed as well

By Adam Rosenberg Published June 3, 2014

watch dogs delayed to spring 2014 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Check out our full written Watch Dogs review.

Consumers that have been carefully considering what launch titles to pick up with their PlayStation 4 or Xbox One will have one less option to consider, as Watch Dogs won’t be making it’s November 22, 2013 launch, Ubisoft Montreal confirms in a new post on the publisher’s official blog. The new release window is officially “spring 2014.” The delay coming just five weeks before its scheduled release is unexpected to say the least, but the reason for it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone who’s been let down by game delays in the past: it needs more polish. No one wants Watch Dogs to be half-functional when it hits stores, so this delay will hopefully be good for it.

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The delay will be for all platforms as well as next-gen, so PC, PS3, Wii U, and Xbox 360 users will have to wait as well. No word yet on what may replace it for the people that bought a PS4 or Xbox One Watch Dogs bundle that included the game.

Here’s the official note from Ubi Montreal, which you can also read on UbiBlog:

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.

The Crew, Ubisoft’s open world racing game, has also been delayed from Q1 2014. No specific release window was given.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…

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