A nearly six month delay didn’t stop Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs from posting impressive sales numbers during its first week of availability that set a new industry standard for new IPs introduced into the marketplace.
According to Ubisoft and based off their internal sales estimates coupled with NPD and GFK data, Watch Dogs sold over 4 million units across all platforms to position itself as the best-selling new IP launch in videogame history. It was launched on May 27 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii U and PC in standard, limited and deluxe edition packages.
Watch Dogs was originally designed to be an Xbox One and PS4 launch title last November until Ubisoft bravely decided to postpone its release out of the lucrative holiday shopping window when more time was needed to polish it up. That move appears to have paid off with larger install bases for the new consoles driving additional sales, as well as much less competition in the gaming marketplace to deal with.
With Watch Dogs solidifying itself as a successful new IP, you can bet discussions are already underway about Ubisoft on how to grow the franchise in the future.
