Ubisoft leaves Watch Dogs out of creative houses as flagship franchises absorb investment
Summary
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot calls Watch Dogs important but confirms no new game.
He told investors on October 1 the franchise won't enter a creative house until remade.
The comment follows a reset that cancelled 6 games, delayed 7, closed 2 studios.
Watch Dogs' sidelining illustrates how cost pressure reshapes Ubisoft's IP priorities.
01
Creative house model holds Watch Dogs back
Guillemot said no new Watch Dogs game is currently in development.
"It's not expected to be put... In a creative house for the moment, before it's potentially remade,"
A Watch Dogs: Legion director's cut is now planned for the first half of 2027.
That date follows an earlier report that cost cuts could delay Ubisoft's biggest games.
02
Flagship franchises absorb the capital mid-tier IP loses
Ubisoft's start-of-year reset cancelled 6 games, postponed 7 others and closed 2 studios.
One casualty was the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake.
Assassin's Creed still gets near-yearly releases, unlike Watch Dogs and Far Cry.
Guillemot said in February that several new Far Cry and Assassin's Creed titles were coming.
03
Watch Dogs keeps residual value despite the freeze
Watch Dogs: Legion's 2020 Metacritic score of 76 trailed both earlier games.
The second game recently saw a spike in concurrent Steam players.
A Watch Dogs film has been in production for two years.
What this means
For Publishers & Developers: Approach cost-cutting majors with licensing or co-dev offers for their shelved mid-tier IP.
For Investors & VC: Discount valuations of studios reliant on work-for-hire contracts for a major's non-flagship franchises.
For Service Vendors: Pitch low-cost remaster and porting capacity to publishers monetizing frozen IP through re-releases.
Events
Companies
Games
Locations
Europe
COMPILED BY GAMES ATLAS EDITORIAL
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