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There's a joke to be made somewhere here about how a game that focuses on hackers is delayed on the PC. Make up your own joke and then keep it to yourself as I have a headache. With all of that out of the way, Watch Dogs 2 is delayed on the PC. It sounds like it's delayed with good reason, however.Watch Dogs 2 is now going to be released on November 29 on the PC while the PS4 and XB1 release is on November 15.
Our team is committed to quality and delivering the best Watch_Dogs experience possible. Therefore, we have made the tough but necessary decision to move the launch date for the PC version of Watch_Dogs 2 to November 29th. With this extra time, we’ll be able to ensure that Watch Dogs 2 runs smoothly across a broad range of hardware, as well as add that extra polish to those features which matter the most to our community.
Watch_Dogs 2 features a multitude of PC-specific improvements, including full 4K support with Ultra Textures and Extra Details options, and uncapped FPS, along with a host of other features and options requested by our community.
With that in mind, we wanted to share with you a bit of what we’re working on and the improvements made:
General
• 4K support
• Stuttering/lag framerate optimization – We made all controls much more responsive and less framerate-related. We’ve optimized resource creation, GPU VRAM upload and required VRAM for the game.
• No FPS cap
• Full SLI/Crossfire support at launch
• Multiple save files support – This feature allows players to have up to three auto save slots, for three separate playthroughs
• Multi-monitor support with borderless mode and advanced settings that allow for customized placement of menu and HUD
• Multiple windowed mode options – windowed mode with flexible/resizable windows, multi-monitor borderless
Improved Graphic Features
• Screen Space Reflections
• Headlight Shadows – support for additional shadows from car headlights
• Extra Details Options – increases the level of detail for all objects in the game, and adds more details to objects in the distance.
Improved Graphics Options
• FOV sliders
• Pixel Density sliders
• Sharpness sliders
• Ultra Textures pack available at launch
• Anti-aliasing options: TXAA, MSAA, Post-Processing Anti-Aliasing options SMAA and FXAA
Improved Keyboard/Mouse controls
• Full controls and UI adaptation for mouse and keyboard
• We’re using raw mouse input to reduce latency and use the Windows hardware cursor throughout the game without any additional signal filtering to smooth or accelerate mouse movement by default
• Advanced keyboard support - Keyboard hotkeys for every menu and app for faster access. Additionally, all hotkeys can be remapped.
• Mouse-centric UI – any UI screen, menus or smartphone app supports full mouse interaction, so the player can finish any UI task with the mouse only. Everything is clickable and has appropriate button states.
• Toggle/Hold modes for different controls (Aim, Sprint, Walk, Inventory, etc.)
Driving
• Driving has been adapted to suit the keyboard controls, with adjustable steering sensitivity. Same goes for driving camera sensitivity and auto-centering camera behavior.
Gamepad support
• On-the-fly switching between mouse and keyboard to gamepad, without any additional options, UI will just switch to gamepad mode
• Supported gamepads: Microsoft Xbox One Controller and DualShock 4 Controller Xbox. We do not officially support Direct Input gamepads, Steam controllers or game wheels.
We thank Watch_Dogs players everywhere for your patience and we’re excited to bring you the PC version of Watch_Dogs 2 on November 29th. The minimum and recommended specs for the PC version of Watch_Dogs 2 are:
Minimum Specs
Supported OS – (64-bit versions only): Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i5-2400S @ 2.5 GHz / AMD FX 6120 @ 3.5 GHz
RAM: 6GB
Video Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 (2GB) / AMD Radeon HD 7870 (2GB) or better
Hard Disk Space: 50 GB
Peripherals: Windows-compatible keyboard and mouse, Microsoft Xbox One Controller, DualShock 4 Controller
Multiplayer: 256 Kbps or faster broadband connection
Recommended Specs
Supported OS – (64-bit versions only): Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i5-3470 @ 3.2 GHz / AMD FX 8120 @ 3.9 GHz
RAM: 8GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 (3GB) | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (4GB) | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (3GB) or better | AMD Radeon R9 290 (4GB) or better
Hard Disk Space: 50 GB
Peripherals: Windows-compatible keyboard and mouse, Microsoft Xbox One Controller, DualShock 4 Controller
Watch_Dogs 2 features a multitude of PC-specific improvements, including full 4K support with Ultra Textures and Extra Details options, and uncapped FPS, along with a host of other features and options requested by our community.
With that in mind, we wanted to share with you a bit of what we’re working on and the improvements made:
General
• 4K support
• Stuttering/lag framerate optimization – We made all controls much more responsive and less framerate-related. We’ve optimized resource creation, GPU VRAM upload and required VRAM for the game.
• No FPS cap
• Full SLI/Crossfire support at launch
• Multiple save files support – This feature allows players to have up to three auto save slots, for three separate playthroughs
• Multi-monitor support with borderless mode and advanced settings that allow for customized placement of menu and HUD
• Multiple windowed mode options – windowed mode with flexible/resizable windows, multi-monitor borderless
Improved Graphic Features
• Screen Space Reflections
• Headlight Shadows – support for additional shadows from car headlights
• Extra Details Options – increases the level of detail for all objects in the game, and adds more details to objects in the distance.
Improved Graphics Options
• FOV sliders
• Pixel Density sliders
• Sharpness sliders
• Ultra Textures pack available at launch
• Anti-aliasing options: TXAA, MSAA, Post-Processing Anti-Aliasing options SMAA and FXAA
Improved Keyboard/Mouse controls
• Full controls and UI adaptation for mouse and keyboard
• We’re using raw mouse input to reduce latency and use the Windows hardware cursor throughout the game without any additional signal filtering to smooth or accelerate mouse movement by default
• Advanced keyboard support - Keyboard hotkeys for every menu and app for faster access. Additionally, all hotkeys can be remapped.
• Mouse-centric UI – any UI screen, menus or smartphone app supports full mouse interaction, so the player can finish any UI task with the mouse only. Everything is clickable and has appropriate button states.
• Toggle/Hold modes for different controls (Aim, Sprint, Walk, Inventory, etc.)
Driving
• Driving has been adapted to suit the keyboard controls, with adjustable steering sensitivity. Same goes for driving camera sensitivity and auto-centering camera behavior.
Gamepad support
• On-the-fly switching between mouse and keyboard to gamepad, without any additional options, UI will just switch to gamepad mode
• Supported gamepads: Microsoft Xbox One Controller and DualShock 4 Controller Xbox. We do not officially support Direct Input gamepads, Steam controllers or game wheels.
We thank Watch_Dogs players everywhere for your patience and we’re excited to bring you the PC version of Watch_Dogs 2 on November 29th. The minimum and recommended specs for the PC version of Watch_Dogs 2 are:
Minimum Specs
Supported OS – (64-bit versions only): Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i5-2400S @ 2.5 GHz / AMD FX 6120 @ 3.5 GHz
RAM: 6GB
Video Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 (2GB) / AMD Radeon HD 7870 (2GB) or better
Hard Disk Space: 50 GB
Peripherals: Windows-compatible keyboard and mouse, Microsoft Xbox One Controller, DualShock 4 Controller
Multiplayer: 256 Kbps or faster broadband connection
Recommended Specs
Supported OS – (64-bit versions only): Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i5-3470 @ 3.2 GHz / AMD FX 8120 @ 3.9 GHz
RAM: 8GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 (3GB) | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (4GB) | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (3GB) or better | AMD Radeon R9 290 (4GB) or better
Hard Disk Space: 50 GB
Peripherals: Windows-compatible keyboard and mouse, Microsoft Xbox One Controller, DualShock 4 Controller
Yeah, it does suck that the PC version is singled out for delay. At least it sounds like it's getting some good features as a result of the extra development time. With how buggy games are at release, I say take all the time you need on this.
Is 14 days long enough to truly make a difference? I understand that pretty much all video games are mostly broken until just before launch, there are game breaking bugs being fixed right up to the last second, but considering lots of games, including Ubisoft games, launch with issues which attempt to get resolved with patches over a period of months, and are sometimes never resolved (i still can't play Just Cause 3 or AC:Unity, or DOA5 with my friends), is 14 days worthwhile?
PC is a special platform with special development requirements, so does the industry console focus put PC port teams under too intense a pressure?
Sometimes i feel like PC ports are handled by 2 or 3 people who really have it rough, such was the case with DOA5 which saw a PC release 3 years after its initial version came out on consoles, with the catch that the online would have to be patched in 3 or 4 months after release, it became apparent that the PC version was using the engine and assets from the previous generation versions of the game as it was possibly ported from the arcade version and not the Xbox One or PS4 versions which were in development at the same time, the online was finally added to the game after 8 months and was ranked match only... to this day there is still no way to play against your friends in that fighting game, it leads me to think that the port team for that version was so small and under budgeted that it was borderline criminal... however it hasn't stopped them from releasing all DLC to that version, it also received an update to become free to play, but the online remains untouched.
Port houses like Nixxes and Bluepoint seem like studios who are actually prepared to do this work.