Ubisoft walks back plans to offer three-day early access for Watch Dogs Legion. The news follows a huge info drop for the game, as Ubisoft confirmed Watch Dogs Legion's Xbox Series X features, shared new gameplay, and much more.
In a statement posted on Twitter by industry analyst Daniel Ahmad, Ubisoft confirmed that it will not be offering a three-day early access period for Watch Dogs Legion. Fans had been able to purchase the Gold, Ultimate, or Collector's Edition of the game in order to play it three days earlier than those who buy the cheaper, Standard release, but this will no longer be possible. Ubisoft said that this comes after the Watch Dogs Legion release date delay, which has given the developers time to "refine the content of the game's premium editions with additions and adjustments to improve the player experience."
The Watch Dogs Legion Gold, Ultimate, and Collector's Edition listing on the official Ubisoft Store does list three-day early access as a feature, despite its removal being announced. As this has only just been announced, it seems likely that this will be removed from the store listing soon.
Before this, early access had been quite commonplace with Ubisoft games. Last year's Ghost Recon Breakpoint had a three-day early access which was available to anyone who purchased the Gold Edition of the game. In 2018, special editions of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, like the Ultimate Edition, also came with an early access period. The early access was seen by some as a way to reward fans who'd spent more on the game, while others didn't feel that it was fair that their money allowed them to play it earlier.
Ubisoft also isn't the only company to offer a program like this. EA's game subscription services, Origin Access on PC and EA Access on PS4 and Xbox One, offers "Early Trials" allowing players to enjoy a game before release. These trials can be time limited, though save progress does carry over to the full version of the game.
It's unclear why the improved quality of Watch Dogs Legion's content means that early access can no longer be offered. While Ubisoft does conduct testing for its games, like the Hyper Scape open beta, its three-day early access hasn't typically been sign like a test period for its game due to its brevity. It also hasn't been confirmed whether Ubisoft will forego early access for all of its other games too, though that does seem highly likely.
Watch Dogs Legion releases October 29, 2020 for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.