Following up on yesterday’s announcement that Watch_Dogs will be heading to the PlayStation 4 and Wii U, Ubisoft has released the official cover for the game—and, well, simply put…it doesn’t impress. I’m well aware that we’re in dire times, as Ken Levine had to explain why BioShock Infinite needed a bland cover months ago amid protests. It would be risky not to have a simple cover that appeals to the average Joe, who’d pick a game off a store shelf simply because the box art had a dude with a gun on it. The difference this time, though, is that the dude with a gun has a smartphone in the other hand. So I completely understand why it needs to be done and just wanted to remind others who might feel the same way.
No, I’m not making a big deal out of the cover, just simply making an observation. We’re living in a day and age when we’re surrounded by box covers with nothing but white dudes with guns striking dramatic poses. I guess I just miss the creativity of cover art that sparked your imagination and conveyed the kind of experience that awaited you. Instead, we now have cover art that exists only to appeal to a wide audience.
But I digress. I’m not here to claim the game is doomed, nor am I judging the game’s quality based on its cover art. Like Bioshock Infinite, Ubisoft could compensate by making a Watch_Dog limited edition with much more detailed and creative cover art.
Watch_Dogs will be released on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, and Windows PC. No official release date has been stated.
