Semi-confirming recently leaked promotional material (not to mention, speculation dating back to when the game was revealed at E3 last year), Ubisoft announced last night at Sony’s PlayStation 4 event that their upcoming open-world title Watch Dogs will be released on both the PlayStation 3 and its next generation successor.
Being a Sony event, Ubisoft did not announce all of the platforms that Watch Dogs is being developed for, however, we already know that the game will also make an appearance on the Xbox 360 “for sure“. Outside of that, we suspect that PC gamers will also get a port (presumably late since this is Ubisoft we are talking about), and we would not be surprised to see it hit the next generation Xbox and Wii U (if recent retailer listings are to be believed).
[Update] A Ubisoft press release has confirmed that Watch Dogs will also be released for the Wii U: “Watch_Dogs will be available on PS4 at launch, along with its release on the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the Wii U™ system from Nintendo and Windows PC.”
To celebrate the next-gen announcement, Ubisoft released a new trailer with that reveals how expansive the open-world city is during non-mission segments of the game.
Watch Dogs’ creative director noted in the commentary version of the trailer that the game’s “hyper-connected world will redefine what you think about open-world games. For the very first time not only will you be able to explore the city at will, but you will be able to tap into the privacy of everybody, and control everything around you”.
Using a Smart Phone the player is able to obtain information and “invade the privacy” of every NPC around their character. This will uncover all the secrets that the anyone might have, and reveal information that is useful towards making progress in the game. Apparently, it can also be used to hack into an ATM for some quick cash, which is arguably an even more helpful feature.
Aside from the multiple Smart Phone uses, we also get to see a pretty awesome little sequence featuring some impromptu vigilante justice.
Ubisoft did not reveal a launch date for Watch Dogs, but did promise that they will reveal more details about the game and its protagonist, Aiden Pearce, in the coming months. Check out the new gameplay trailer embedded below, and let us know your thoughts on the title in the comments.
Published: Feb 21, 2013 11:52 am