Ubisoft Made a Driver Style Game But Wanted Their Own GTA. This is how it was created...
Ubisoft was once working on a sequel to the Driver series, but decided to change the path of the project slightly. The result was a completely new brand that exists to this day.
As some of you probably know, the Driver series just disappeared from the market at some point, with Watch Dogs being one of the culprits. Ubisoft has canceled the upcoming sequel, Driver San Francisco, and switched its elements to a hacker sandbox.
Ubisoft wanted to create their own GTA
We have contacted Ubisoft staff and are posting new facts about the incident. It turned out that the "new" Driver was supposed to resemble Watch Dogs from the very beginning, but the basics of the game just didn't fit the idea of the series. In addition, Driver San Francisco sold very poorly despite good ratings. Therefore, it was decided to create a new brand.
The game, released under the name Watch Dogs, started out as a continuation of the Driver series, but has always been basically what you see in the final product. In today's world, it has always been a game where you can walk, parkour, fight and drive. All this took place in a large open city, where the focus was on modern technology and hacking. After many attempts to adapt this concept to the Driver series, the decision was made to transform it into a new in-house brand.
— Comments from Ubisoft staff
They just did their job and convinced Yves (Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft - Ed.) that he could have "his own GTA" instead of the poorly selling Driver.
- adds another developer
Ultimately, this unequal clash was won by Watch Dogs. The title is still with us, and he is doing well . However, this is not the first such case in the history of Ubi and the entire gaming industry. A similar fate (though preceded by different circumstances) befell, for example, Prince of Persia, which was replaced by Assassin's Creed. On the one hand, it’s a pity, but on the other hand, this is a natural “evolution” of less and less promising brands.