French games maker Ubisoft is reportedly reviving a series that was previously reported to be “completely dead.” Obviously, if this is true, the series is not actually completely dead, and if this new release, a re-release, does well, it suggests the series even has a future. Considering the restructuring going on at Ubisoft lately, all the new investment, and all the new faces on its board, it would not be surprising to see many IPs get trial runs to determine their potential. So far, though, this is an isolated occurrence.
The new report comes the way of Tom Henderson, the premier source when it comes to Ubisoft. Interestingly, Henderson was also the source of the original report that said the series in question, Watch Dogs, was “completely dead.” Considering Henderson’s impressive track record when it comes to Ubisoft, this was presumably true at the time, but things have clearly changed since then.
Ubisoft IP Getting Second Chance
According to Henderson, Watch Dogs is getting a second chance at life, but the strategy from Ubisoft is peculiar to say the least. There isn’t a new game in the works, nor a re-release of the iconic first game in the series, nor the popular second game. Rather, Ubisoft is re-releasing the third game in the series, which was a substantial flop and killed the series.
The new report does not dive into what the thinking is, but Henderson says Ubisoft is re-releasing Watch Dogs Legion. It gets stranger, though. Not only is the game being re-released, but with new content, new no motion capture, and a new “night mode.”
For those who do not know, Watch Dogs Legion was released in 2020 to a Metacritic score range of 66 to 74. Coupling this awful critical performance, it didn’t track well in the user review department. And it also sold far fewer copies than its two predecessors. So why Ubisoft thinks it is a good idea to not only revive this specific installment, but to pump more money into it for new content and new mocap is anyone’s best guess. It’s easy to imagine a world where a remake of sorts of the first game does very well, but it’s hard to imagine anyone caring about this specific re-release.
What platforms the re-release will be on, when it will be released, how much it will cost, and a bunch of other salient details are missing from the new report. Meanwhile, what is here should be taken with a grain of salt.
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