Gamers who shell out for a brand new Xbox One or Sony PS4 console next month will now have to wait until well into next year before they'll be able to grab one of the most hotly-anticipated titles.
Ubisoft has confirmed that open world action game Watch Dogs , which centres around the ability of central character to hack into any connected device within the city of Chicago, will not be ready in time for the launch of the new consoles.
The French publisher said it wants Watch Dogs to 'embody' what a next-generation game should be, and as a result has decided to spend more time perfecting the title.
Watch Dogs, which will also be available for Xbox 360 and Sony PS3, has drawn as much positive publicity as any of the forthcoming titles on deck to kickstart the next console war. Back in August Ubisoft also announced it was teaming up with Sony for a full length movie adaptation of the game, such was the excitement about the storyline.
In a statement, the company announced, with regret: "Our ambition from the start with Watch Dogs has been to deliver something that embodies what we wanted to see in the next-generation of gaming. It is with this in mind that we’ve made the tough decision to delay the release until Spring 2014."
"We know a lot of you are probably wondering, 'Why now?' We struggled with whether we would delay the game. But from the beginning, we have adopted the attitude that we will not compromise on quality. As we got closer to release, as all the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place in our last push before completion, it became clear to us that we needed to take the extra time to polish and fine tune every detail so we can deliver a truly memorable and exceptional experience.
"We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you. We thoroughly enjoy and appreciate the way you respond on the web, at events, press conferences and during other opportunities we have to interact. Your passion is what drives us."
Will the Watch Dogs delay discourage you from jumping on the Xbox One or PS4 bandwagon until the New Year or are you happy to wait?
In other news Amazon.com announced a PS4 bundle featuring Watch Dogs earlier today, so you may want to avoid that one if you plan on having the console in time for Christmas.
