Speaking to [a]ListDaily Ubisoft's marketing manager Tony Key has indicated that Watch_Dogs will likely be a long-running series as the company won't launch a game without franchise-potential.
Key says AAA game's are so expensive that Ubisoft has to plan them as franchises, "That's what all our games are about; we won't even start if we don't think we can build a franchise out of it. There's no more fire and forget – it's too expensive."
He adds that Ubisoft feels confident Watch_Dogs will be able to achieve staying power as a franchise, "We feel like we're in a really good place with Watch_Dogs, but until we're the biggest game of the year we're not going to be satisfied. Last year we cleaned up E3 because we were pretty much the only next-gen game around."
Key notes that the recent emergence of the NSA's PRISM program means Watch_Dogs has added appeal "Watch_Dogs for us is really a franchise because we're tapping into something people really care about, never more than when the NSA PRISM scandal broke."
Ubisoft reacts to real events very quickly in its marketing of the game as well with a Watch_Dogs screenshot wherein protagonist Aiden hacks the surveillance system of an apartment building and sees a man talking to a female department store mannequin.
"When the PRISM story broke, we had that screenshot out on Friday [two days later] on social media and said 'You never know who's watching.' We were able to react very quickly, and that's what social media brings," he says.
Watch_Dogs is set to be released on November 22nd for PS3, PS4, PC, Wii U, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
Via: VG24/7.
