Ubisoft has announced that its open world noir adventure Watch Dogs will not launch this year, as previously planned, and will arrive in the spring.

Announcing the delay on its blog, a company statement said that it wanted extra time to work on the game, which is a techno-thriller set in a surveillance-drenched Chicago of the near future. "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."

Watch Dogs was first unveiled at E3 in 2012, to widespread acclaim, and has come to represent the open-world possibilities of next generation consoles. It was due to be launched in November. It is not clear what action will be taken for those consumers who have pre-ordered hardware bundles featuring the game.

"We know a lot of you are probably wondering: Why now?" the statement added. "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 each detail so we can deliver a truly memorable and exceptional experience."

Ubisoft has also announced a delay for the release of its racing game The Crew. "Our long term goal is to win the next generation," said Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot. "The tough decisions we are taking today to fully realize the major potential of our new creations have an impact on our short-term performance. We are convinced that, longer term, they will prove to be the right decisions both in terms of satisfaction for our fans and in terms of value creation for our shareholders."