14 DAY TRIAL // Video game publisher Ubisoft has announced that, since launch, Watch Dogs has managed to move 8 million copies to gamers, which is a significant number given the delays it has faced, and that two thirds of the units were linked to the PC, the PlayStation 4 from Sony and the Xbox One from Microsoft.
Traditionally, video game companies tend not to reveal the way their titles split their sales and it’s fascinating to see that the gaming community seems to be moving away from the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 entirely less than one year after the next-generation was introduced.
Ubisoft says that no more than 12 percent of the Watch Dogs copies sold were linked to the PC, but 70% of those who chose the platform opted to buy the game using digital distribution platforms, according to data seen by a NeoGAF user.
On the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4, only around 10 percent of gamers bought the game digitally and most of them still preferred to go to a store to secure a copy.
According to Ubisoft, those in the United States are more willing to get a digitally-distributed copy of Watch Dogs, and the Xbox One also has a slight edge on the PlayStation 4 in the same category.
Chris Early, the vice president of digital publishing at the company, says that the numbers are important because they show that, in the future, the shift to the digital space will be even more pronounced and that the designers working at Ubisoft need to focus on creativity and growth.
Ubisoft says that for Valiant Hearts 50 percent of buyers opted to get a digitally-distributed copy of the game, and that for Child of Light that number increased to 75%.
Watch Dogs was initially set to be a launch title for the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4, but a delay was announced in order to give the development team working on it more time to polish the core experience.
The title offers an open-world structure and encourages gamers to use both hacking and more lethal means in order to go on revenge quests in a futuristic version of the city of Chicago.
Some gamers have criticized Watch Dogs for its weak story and for its somewhat repetitive gameplay, but the fact that 8 million gamers have bought it probably means that Ubisoft is already exploring the possibility of creating a sequel.