Watch Dogs Mod Reveals 2012/2013 Enhanced Graphics Hidden In PC Version

A modder has found some incredible files in Watch Dogs, sparking an angry debate online about how the game was held back on the PC due to consoles. However, if you have the PC version of the game, and a powerful rig, you are in for a treat.

Basically, modder "The Worse" found the original graphical files for Watch Dogs from 2012 and 2013 in the PC game’s code. His mod reenables many of the effects for the game from those builds into the PC version.

We can explain the technical details here, but first, look at this:

The Worse explains that he is working on these things for his mod:

1.       Changes to default fog values

2.       Enables bokeh DOF for main cameras

3.       Fixes stuttering

4.       Brings back E3 2012 bloom

5.       Enables headlight shadows

6.       Changes LoD

7.       Changes reflections

8.       Adds 3 new cameras, closer, normal, and further

9.   Changes to rain, with better quality raindrops, improved light reactions, etc.

10.   Lens flares

11.   Changes lightning

12.   Changes in civilian density

And, overall performance improvements. As you can imagine, it’s creating quite a stir among gamers, many of whom have already concluded the worst: Ubisoft deliberately downgraded Watch Dogs for PC, for parity with the console versions.

However, I did say it was a debate, right? In Ubisoft’s defense, some people, including active devs, are pointing out that these improvements come with bugs, including excessive DOF. As they put it, it’s entirely possible that Ubisoft decided not to go through with applying all these graphical performance tweaks to Watch Dogs so that they could get it up and running and release it sooner.

Where do you stand on this? Let us know in the comments below.