News of hidden graphics files in the PC release of Watch Dogs rippled all over the gaming-centric internet yesterday. This data unlocks better graphics for the Windows version of the hit multiplatform game and thousands of players who own that version of the game installed it to see if there was any drastic change. Let's take a look at what they documented.
As of this writing, more than 1,000 videos featuring the patch by modder TheWorse have been uploaded to YouTube. Some of these have other add-ons like SweetFX running on top of the patch-enabled files; others just feature the effects wrought by the files themselves. The video below from popular YouTube commentator TotalBiscuit features the game running solely on TheWorse mod. While the consensus is that Watch Dogs looks demonstrably better after applying TheWorse's work, some users say that the game's performance takes a hit as a result.
People are calling it the 'E3 2012 mod' because the results looks like that first reveal of Watch Dogs from two years ago. Furthermore, users that have dug into the code have noted that some of these files are tagged E3.
Ubisoft hasn't issued any sort of comment on the matter, except for a tweet from a Belgian PR representative:
Another poster on the Guru3D forums who goes by the handle kadzait24 claims that theWorse is taking credit for work that he had done. However, it's the latter modder's release that has spread. For his part, TheWorse says he's going to continue working on the mod as people point out issues. Kotaku will update this story as it develops.