After a tumultuous development that resulted in a six-month delay, it seems as though Watch Dogs was worth the wait, after Ubisoft confirmed today that the hacking adventure not only sold 4 million copies in seven days, but also set a new first-day sales record for the company as a whole.
In light of this success, the studio’s UK executive Darren Bowen praised the mantra behind the game’s bold vision:
“The results we achieved in the first week of launch are amazing and prove Ubisoft’s commitment to developing new blockbuster IP and thoroughly new-gen experiences.”
Alongside today’s news, the company also revealed that Watch Dog’s dedicated companion app, ctOS mobile, has been downloaded approximately one million times across Android and iOS tablets.
In the build-up to release, Ubisoft’s CEO Yves Guillemot set a sales target of 6 million — which would align the studio’s most recent release with that of 2007’s Assassin’s Creed in terms of sales, itself selling 6 million copies. Undoutedbly, it seems safe to assume that Watch Dogs will easily surpass this milestone; one which irrefutably cements the game’s reputation as a viable franchise.
And while Ubisoft’s crime opus has garnered some negative press recently in terms of purported graphical compromises and the recent problems that occurred upon its PC release — which the company aim to address in a forthcoming patch — 4 million sales in a single week for a new intellectual property is notable in and of itself.
Watch Dogs is available now through Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 and PC, with a Wii U release expected later in 2014.
