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[IbizaPocholo]

Inside the Driver game that died so that Watch Dogs could live

News, reviews and opinions on the biggest video games.

www.vg247.com

The story of Driver’s transformation into Watch Dogs, and the consequent rise of one new Ubisoft franchise while an old favourite has languished, takes place a long time ago – ten years to be exact. Recollections are hazy, and one source contacted by VG247 initially said Watch Dogs’ link to Driver was an urban myth. But look closely and you’ll see the tyre marks: the telltale signs that show us how one bestselling series was supplanted by another.

When contacted for this piece, Ubisoft declined to comment. But the company’s North American president Laurent Detoc gave an interview to IGN in 2013, in which he revealed that the studio behind Watch Dogs was originally building a different game. “They were working on a driving engine, we had the Driver license,” he said. “At some point it changed. That’s at least three years ago, and then the Watch Dogs project reused some of the work that had been done on this driving engine.”

The way Detoc tells it, the game was initially wholly focused on driving, until a team reshuffle led to a new creative director and a project reboot. The result was an open-world game in which much of the action took place on foot.

“I wouldn’t say that Driver became Watch Dogs, because that’s not true,” he added. “That’s not really what happens. What happens is that a game gets cancelled, and then you take pieces of that game to make a new one.”

The story VG247 has uncovered is slightly different, however. Speaking to three sources – one working at Ubisoft, the second a former senior Ubisoft employee, and the third Driver’s original creator, Martin Edmondson – a picture has emerged of a game that gradually and organically grew beyond the bounds of the Driver license, birthing the Watch Dogs series we know today.

Check the link for more.

 

[ArtemisClydeFrog]

 

[Unknown?]

Lame! Hopefully one day we will get another Driver game.

 

[Kuranghi]

Driver: San Francisco was great why couldn't they have stuck with the Driver license and run that franchise into the ground with a million sequels instead. At least we'd have a few more good ones before it went to shit!

I'm sure you could've done something crazy in the Driver: SF sequel, like coop where you work together to do missions. That would be ace.

 

[abel empire]

UBisoft practically killed all the great games i used to love about them, splinter cell has been left out, assassins creed isnt assassins creed anymore, they turned driver a game that had so much potential even before gta was a thing and invented watchdogs a boring hacking game. Rainbow six isnt rainbow six anymore. I cant wait to see what they kill now.

 

[GuinGuin]

Watch Dogs Legion is a great game. Better than any GTA.

 

[N0S]

UBisoft practically killed all the great games i used to love about them, splinter cell has been left out, assassins creed isnt assassins creed anymore, they turned driver a game that had so much potential even before gta was a thing and invented watchdogs a boring hacking game. Rainbow six isnt rainbow six anymore. I cant wait to see what they kill now.

Beyond Good and Evil.

 

[Cravis]

Driver: San Francisco launched in 2011 to glowing reviews, but lacklustre sales. According to a former senior Ubisoft employee, it was the death knell for the series, “definitely the end of the road for that franchise”.

 

[Kilau]

UBisoft practically killed all the great games i used to love about them, splinter cell has been left out, assassins creed isnt assassins creed anymore, they turned driver a game that had so much potential even before gta was a thing and invented watchdogs a boring hacking game. Rainbow six isnt rainbow six anymore. I cant wait to see what they kill now.

PS360 gen they were my favorite publisher, now I just ignore them. Shame.

 

[drganon]

Watch dogs isn't worth any series being sacrificed for.

 

[abel empire]

Beyond Good and Evil.

Lets see how that comes out! I just dont believe ubisoft is the same anymore theyve become a massive corporation same as ea, that only cares about profits and not making art.

 

[SirKicksalot]

Driver SF was this but videogame:

Super fun, shame it bombed.

 

[abel empire]

PS360 gen they were my favorite publisher, now I just ignore them. Shame.

I loved ubisoft since ps2 and ps3360 gen now i dont wven know who they are. This online stuff + inclusion politics and chase for profits has turned them into a joke. I dont know im a 90's boy maybe this modern stuff isnt for me.

 

[abel empire]

As fabtastic as the driver seitvhing tech was, i didnt finf any fun playing it, i dont know how they allow such games to get a pass during development, like i can boot up gta san andreas vice city and gta 3 today and still have more fun than driver san francheska.

 

[The Fartist]

I dream of open world Sao Paolo (Driver 2) running on next/current-gen hardware.

 

[Justin9mm]

Watch Dogs Legion is a great game. Better than any GTA.

Is it? I've been on the fence about it this whole time. What do you feel makes it better than GTA. I love GTA but never been an open world Ubisoft fan. I've tried to like FarCry so many times and just find it boring so I'm hesitant.

 

[GuinGuin]

Is it? I've been on the fence about it this whole time. What do you feel makes it better than GTA. I love GTA but never been an open world Ubisoft fan. I've tried to like FarCry so many times and just find it boring so I'm hesitant.

Much more open mission structure, the most alive open world ever created, many more combat options, actually funny unlike gta playground humor.

 

[Skifi28]

Driver: San Francisco was great why couldn't they have stuck with the Driver license and run that franchise into the ground with a million sequels instead. At least we'd have a few more good ones before it went to shit!

Was the game a success? Do we know sales? I have no idea, but I would imagine it didn't do so well for the franchise to basically die after it released and the game itself to be delisted.

 

[Filldo]

Watch Dogs Legion is a great game. Better than any GTA.

I thought legion was a step back from 2 in a lot of ways. Not much to upgrade so very little sense of progression. London wasn’t all that fun, just lacked variety. Characters were all throw away and taking over the city gave minimal rewards in the form of new recruits who again were pretty much throw away. Movement was a step back from 2. And getting rid of gangs and cops was the worst part for me. I did enjoy it enough to complete the game and do want another one some day but I will take GTA over watch dogs. I still think the franchise has promise and will definitely be buying the next one but my excitement for GTA 6 is way higher.

 

[namekuseijin]

are you sure Driver didn't translate to The Crew instead?

 

[shamo42]

Creating cinematic video replays in Driv3r war crazy fun.

I miss that game...

 

[ShaikhCroft]

Driver 3 was a pain in the ass because of those heavy lampposts. And it was very tough. But boy oh boy it was so much fun and one of my favorite childhood game!

UBisoft practically killed all the great games i used to love about them, splinter cell has been left out, assassins creed isnt assassins creed anymore, they turned driver a game that had so much potential even before gta was a thing and invented watchdogs a boring hacking game. Rainbow six isnt rainbow six anymore. I cant wait to see what they kill now.

How can you forget Prince of Persia?

 

[Mr Branding]

UBisoft practically killed all the great games i used to love about them, splinter cell has been left out, assassins creed isnt assassins creed anymore, they turned driver a game that had so much potential even before gta was a thing and invented watchdogs a boring hacking game. Rainbow six isnt rainbow six anymore. I cant wait to see what they kill now.

They also ran the Might and Magic franchise in the ground

 

[PandemiaPorcina]

Watch Dogs Legion is a great game. Better than any GTA.

Hahahahahahahahahahhhhahahgaggagagwndyeje

 

[abel empire]

They also ran the Might and Magic franchise in the ground

More to go on the ground.

 

[abel empire]

Driver 3 was a pain in the ass because of those heavy lampposts. And it was very tough. But boy oh boy it was so much fun and one of my favorite childhood game!


How can you forget Prince of Persia?

Sorry i forgot that, it was a part of my childhood, i always believed when i grew up id play prince of persia games that where even more awesome and looked like the ps2 cgi trailers but ubisoft had other plans.

 

[UnNamed]

Wasn't Watchdogs born from the cancelled game Gorilla's Nation? WD still have the spider robot as an Easter egg.

 

[sephiroth7x]

Much more open mission structure, the most alive open world ever created, many more combat options, actually funny unlike gta playground humor.

Just finished the game last night (well - I finished the Finding Bagley mission) and it was alright?

Lack of a main character was a nice change but also a weird one. I loved how it opened up how to do some missions but then most of the final story missions were just shoot outs so kinda forced you down the Hitman/Spy path just for fire power. London was good to see and well recreated and on the whole it looked pretty good save for some characters. One criticism though I cannot escape from is this very much feels like an Americans version of London. Being from England and to the capital many times, the over the top 'Englishness' just doesn't exist. I am aware this is a game in the future and typically how Watch Dogs tends to be overtly over the top but was still a bit jarring.

The game is good enough but not a GTA. Plus, the story is wank.

 

[GymWolf]

Watch Dogs Legion is a great game. Better than any GTA.

Between ratchet looking better than ue5 demo and this one, you are on fire today my dude

I love the avatar tho

 

[Dodkrake]

Is it? I've been on the fence about it this whole time. What do you feel makes it better than GTA. I love GTA but never been an open world Ubisoft fan. I've tried to like FarCry so many times and just find it boring so I'm hesitant.

It's not. While better than 2, it falls very short of telling a decent and compelling story. The game's story is boring as hell, the characters are all cardboard thin... It's flashy, there's a lot of gadgets and sparkly things, but it's no more than a 7/10.

 

[Tschumi]

I got Driver on my PSVita a while back... It was really fun... For the first mission. Then you realize that you're going to be driving back and forth across a hilarious abbreviated city and it looses its charm.

I aughta try True Crime: Streets of LA on Dolphin again for old times' sake...