Watch Dogs 2 to Arrive in 6 Editions

With E3 2016 looming, various game companies are preparing to showcase their latest projects and launch a number of blockbuster titles. Ubisoft’s open-world hacking game, Watch Dogs left a lasting impression during its initial reveal and looked like dawning in a new era of visual fidelity. Unfortunately, the final product didn’t offer the same visual exuberance and suffered from fairly mediocre graphics on various platforms compared to the E3 version. Additionally, Watch Dogs’ leading protagonist was remarkably dull and the game’s overly serious tone didn’t help matters. As a new IP, Ubisoft was always going to transform Watch Dogs into a series and launch a sequel. The company recently unveiled a cinematic trailer which appears to be a vast improvement on the original and received a positive reception on social media.

Of course, major publishers often employ various tactics to encourage people to pre-order and attempt to maximise profits with post-release content. In recent years, pre-order bonuses, and even retailer exclusive content have become fairly common although some publishers are more guilty of taking this to extreme levels. Ubisoft is one of the main culprits and has been known to offer games in an absurd number of packages. Unbelievably, Watch Dogs 2 will feature a ridiculous 6 versions including the standard edition, deluxe edition, gold edition, San Francisco edition, Wrench Jr Robot Collector’s pack which includes the base game and The return of Dedsec collector’s case. Phew, that’s quite a large number of choices for the consumer prior to launch and it’s bound to cause a great deal of confusion. To help users understand the differences, Ubisoft has disclosed a chart showing what each version comes with:

While some of these are cosmetic inclusions and shouldn’t detract from the user experience, the notion of releasing so many variants is absurd. This kind of nonsense actually encourages consumers to wait for a sale and not rush out to pre-order. It creates the perception that they’re not receiving the full title and investing early on is a poor value proposition.