Watch Dogs PC mod will damage gameplay – Ubisoft

Following the release of a graphics and performance improvement “mod” from TheWorse, Ubisoft has warned gamers that utilising this unofficial upgrade could have a negative impact on “visual fidelity, stability, performance and overall gameplay quality”.

“The dev team is completely dedicated to getting the most out of each platform, so the notion that we would actively downgrade quality is contrary to everything we’ve set out to achieve,” stated a post on the Watch Dogs website. “We test and optimise our games for each platform on which they’re released, striving for the best possible quality.”

TheWorse’s mod unlocks hidden files in the PC version of Watch Dogs, improving – he claims – shaders, NPC density, camera angles, stuttering, visuals, and reflections in the game.

“The PC version does indeed contain some old, unused render settings that were deactivated for a variety of reasons. Modders are usually creative and passionate players, and while we appreciate their enthusiasm, the mod in question (which uses those old settings) subjectively enhances the game’s visual fidelity in certain situations but also can have various negative impacts. Those could range from performance issues, to difficulty in reading the environment in order to appreciate the gameplay, to potentially making the game less enjoyable or even unstable,” said Ubisoft.

This statement comes after Ubisoft released a patch for Watch Dogs, which it claims fixes many of the game’s issues.

It is worth noting for those of you that did install Ubisoft’s just-released PC patch for the game, it will overwrite TheWorse’s mod files. At the time of publication, TheWorse had not released an updated version of his Watch Dogs mod.