Det var ikke en spesielt populær nyhet blant gamerne, men Ubisoft selv føler seg likevel trygge på at utsettelsen av storspillet Watch Dogs, som skulle slippes omtrent samtidig med Playstation 4 og Xbox One den 18. november i fjor, var et riktig valg. De trengte nemlig de ekstra seks månedene med utviklingstid for å sikre kvaliteten, selv om dette har kostet finansielt sett:
- We had no choice, despite the fact that it put us in a tough financial position in the short term. We're a long-term company, with a long-term vision, and Watch Dogs for us is a long-term play. We had no choice. We knew it was the right thing to do, but it doesn't make it hurt any less, kommenterer markedssjef Tony Key til avisen The Alist Daily.
Videre påpeker han at forhåndsbestillinger av spillet faktisk har kommet inn enda hyppigere etter utsettelsen, og at spillet trolig vil tjene inn de økte utgiftene utsettelsen førte med seg. Når det er sagt var ble ikke avgjørelsen tatt lett på:
- The decision was made very late, and we were rolling along in a lot of areas on the marketing side. Any time a game slips, there are marketing inefficiencies. We are still executing, for the most part, the plan that we had had. It was a lot of late nights and crazy reactions to putting everything on hold at the last minute. It's the least of our problems to put marketing on hold, compared to getting the game right, but it's a lot of work for a marketing team when something like that moves. You have to reallocate all your resources on a new schedule, you've got your retailers to deal with, who are already running marketing for your game in some cases. Slips like that are incredibly inefficient, avslutter Key.
Har du fortsatt tro på Watch Dogs, eller har forventningene dødd i løpet av det siste halve året?