A new leak from the rumor mill suggests that Ubisoft might bring its hacker series to Nintendo's next-gen console in the form of a Watch Dogs Collection. The report is based on retailer listings with alleged placeholder data.
The collection is intended to bundle the older installments of the series for the upcoming portable hardware. For Ubisoft, this is standard practice. New hardware demands content, and older catalog titles incur minimal development costs. The financial risk is virtually nonexistent and aligns with... previous reports around the row.
The more technically sophisticated design of the Nintendo Switch 2 makes porting titles from the PS4 and Xbox One era economically viable in the first place. While the original Switch often reached its CPU limits with open-world games of this scale, the new console generation delivers the necessary raw power without expensive downscaling processes.
Brands that were thought to be dead still exist in the Ubisoft catalog.
The Watch Dogs series has been considered on hiatus since the lukewarm performance of "Watch Dogs: Legion" in 2020. Media reports have repeatedly stated that the brand is internally shelved. That's only half the story. In publishers' balance sheets, well-known brands die extremely slowly. Existing titles generate continuous revenue through sales, subscriptions, and porting, without the need to risk new multi-million dollar production budgets.
The brand also boasts a loyal fanbase that particularly appreciates the second installment for its vibrant open-world structure. This established player base is sufficient to justify the porting costs.
Are native current-gen versions coming for PS5 and Xbox Series?
The crucial question for existing players is whether this Switch 2 project will simultaneously include native upgrades or patches for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. Currently, "Watch Dogs" and "Watch Dogs 2" only run on the current consoles via backward compatibility, limited to the old frame rates and resolutions.
The likelihood of true current-gen ports has measurably increased due to the Switch 2 leak. If Ubisoft is already adapting the old codebases for modern graphics interfaces and system architectures, then a simultaneous release on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S makes perfect sense. The effort required to adapt to current consoles would then be minimal. However, whether these versions will be released as a free patch or as a paid remaster remains to be seen.
The leak should still be taken with a grain of salt, but it makes economic sense. This potential collection is primarily a chance to finally play the better first two installments with modern performance. It doesn't replace a new game. It's simply high-quality recycling of leftovers. That's business.
It would be amazing if this gets a proper update 🥹🥰🥰
Oh yes, please a patch for part 1.
Uhhh, that would be something! 😁 The first part was really, really good back then.