It’s no secret that Ghost Recon Breakpoint didn’t perform that well once released. The game received a mixed reception from both fans and critics, with most complaining about lack of innovation and unpolished content. This forced Ubisoft’s hand to take a hard look at how they develop their games. As a result, several games were delayed including the upcoming Watch Dogs Legion.
Legion was initially supposed to launch in March 2020, but Ubisoft decided to delay the game so that it also didn't meet the same fate as Breakpoint. Creative Director of Legion, Clint Hocking, said in an interview with IGN that the delay took place due to "reasons external to the project".
Initially, the devs were devastated about the delay, however, after some time they were thankful for it. “Obviously the day the word came down was devastating because you put yourself in the mental mindset of ‘We're going to close this and get it out the door.’” Hocking said in the interview. “And that takes a little bit of time to undo but after a few days of stewing in it, it's like, 'Oh yeah, actually, this is great. This is great.'”
Hocking also said that the delay allowed them the time to improve the “traits and abilities” of all the characters. As Legion lets you recruit any character in the game, the additional time was much needed. Overall, the delay was a good thing for the game because now Legion is much more polished and has tons of cool characters.
“We were very close when we were ready to ship, and the delay has allowed us to really look at the things that were out of reach for us back then, and how to incorporate those things and add a layer of polish and realization and clarity to the game." Hocking further added. "So the most important thing I think we've done is added a lot more refinement to traits and the abilities that you find on characters in the world, and better ways for aggregating those into individuals. As a consequence of that, we have a lot of cool characters that kind of emerge out of these great traits.”
So what do you think? Are you excited about Watch Dogs Legion? Do you think the delay was a good choice? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
