Watch Dogs is ‘important’ to Ubisoft says Yves Guillemot, but don’t expect a new one soon
The last Watch Dogs game was released in 2020
Watch Dogs fans shouldn’t expect a new game in the series anytime soon, despite the franchise remaining “important” to Ubisoft, according to CEO Yves Guillemot.
As reported by Game File, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has given a rare update on the status of the franchise, which has been silent in the video game space, despite the fact that a Watch Dogs film is in production.
Speaking during the company’s annual meeting with investors in early October, Guillemot claimed that a new game in franchise isn’t currently in production, but that the brand is still important to the French publishing giant.
“It is not expected to be put in a creative house for the moment, before it’s potentially remade,” Guillemot said (via translation).
While the phrasing of Guillemot’s comments may suggest that a remake of one of the Watch Dogs games is on the horizon, this could be a translation issue, and could merely suggest that the series will be reintroduced or revived under a new team in the future.
Watch Dogs is one of several major Ubisoft franchises that hasn’t had a new entry in some time. While Assassin’s Creed continues to receive near-yearly releases, other once-popular IPs like Watch Dogs and Far Cry haven’t seen a new game in years.
When Watch Dogs debuted in 2014, it was critically and commercially successful, even if it didn’t match the ambitious ‘gameplay’ shown in a teaser trailer years earlier.
The last Watch Dogs games was Watch Dogs Legion, which was released in 2020 and was the follow-up to the much-loved Watch Dogs 2. Critical reception was generally positive, but its Metacritic score of 76 was lower than that of the previous two games.
In February, Guillemot claimed that “several” Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed games are on the way.
At the start of the year, Ubisoft detailed a ‘major reset’ at the company, which has seen its creative teams radically restructured into autonomous ‘creative houses’. This also saw the publisher announce a cost-cutting initiative, which resulted in the cancellation of six games, the postponement of seven others, and two studio closures.
