Ghost Recon Wildlands: Everything you need to know, release date, price, pre-order deals and merchandise

Ghost Recon used to be one of Ubisoft’s biggest names but its absence since 2012 shows it’s slipped somewhat into the shadows – with Far Cry being the company’s go-to shooter franchise in recent years. That may be all about to change, though, with the release of Ghost Recon Wildlands in early 2017.

The game is most easily described as a blend of Metal Gear Solid and Grand Theft Auto – which obviously gives the title huge potential sales.

Whether you’re selling the title, working on a rival, or looking to produce content around the launch, we’ve rounded up all the key facts about the upcoming game to date – a cheat sheet, so to speak, of everything Wildlands. Here you can find prices, release date information and pre-order bonus schemes. We’ll also update this article with more information about merchandise and sales data once it’s available.

Ghost Recon Wildlands release date, beta and formats

Ghost Recon Wildlands is currently set to launch on Tuesday March 7th for PS4, Xbox One and PC. This release date looks to be pretty solid, with Ubisoft delivering titles largely on time in recent years and with the game having been demoed extensively since its unveiling in June 2015.

The title has actually been in development since 2012, with the Ubisoft Paris team taking feedback from selected community members since 2015. A beta is upcoming but no date has been set for this, players can sign up now.

What is Ghost Recon Wildlands?

Rather than take Call of Duty or Battlefield on head-to-head, Ghost Recon: Wildlands works to Ubisoft’s traditional strengths. It’s an open-world game, in which the player is tasked taking down a powerful Bolivian drug cartel, with missions spread across a huge rural area.

The setting and gameplay has elements in common with some very successful franchises. The huge open world and use of a huge variety of ground and air vehicles brings to mind GTA, plus the black-ops team has no rules of engagement to obey, so players can unleash havoc without risk of retribution. Then there’s a huge arsenal of configurable weapons, plenty of gadgets and a complete stealth system, similar to that found in Metal Gear Solid.

The game allows players to tackle missions in an order of their choosing in whatever manner that pleases them. From frontal assaults and helicopter base jumps to stealthy infiltrations and escapes on stolen dirtbikes, this provides huge opportunity for promotion through YouTube and Twitch, with emergent gameplay and multiple approaches bound to appeal to those who both stream and watch.

The whole campaign is playable in single-player with AI buddies which assist you thanks to a simple command system. However, the whole game is also playable with co-op groups of up to four players, so it’s a very social experience and one that may therefore build a userbase over time.

Ghost Recon Wildlands post release support and DLC

To date, there hasn’t been any kind of roadmap announced for Wildlands post-release, but based on Ubisoft’s ‘Live’ games strategy, there’s bound to be one popping up soon – consumers can get a Season Pass with some editions of the game, but that’s all we know about the DLC. There’s a bonus mission for the game if you pre-order the game, called ‘The Peruvian Connection’.

Ghost Recon Wildlands prices

At time of writing, these are the current pre-order prices available for Ghost Recon Wildlands through Ubisoft’s online Ubisoft Store:

• 54.99 for Standard PS4 and Xbox One physical editions
• 39.99 for Standard PC digital code

Ubisoft is also releasing a Deluxe edition of the game that includes a CD soundtrack, map of Bolivia and additional in-game items. These are a Huntsman outfit, weapon camouflages, a special motorbike and rifle. This is currently available for the same prices as the Standard edition of the game.

There’s also a Gold Edition of Wildlands. This includes a copy of the game, season pass and the additional in-game items described above in the Deluxe Edition. This costs:

• 79.99 for Gold PS4 and Xbox One physical editions
• 64.99 for Gold PC digital code

There’s also a Collector’s Edition of the game that’s available exclusively on the Ubisoft Store. This includes the Gold Edition of the game, the CD soundtrack, a collector’s box, Bolivian postcards and an audio headset replica of those worn by the operators in the game. There’s also a decorated skull to store your headset on when not in use. This costs:

• 119.99 for PS4 and Xbox One physical editions
• 114.99 for PC physical edition

The Collector’s Edition is the only bundle that offers a physical copy of the game’s PC release.

Meanwhile, GAME’s prices are as follows:

• 32.99 for Standard PC digital download code
• 44.99 for Standard PS4 and Xbox One physical editions
• 49.99 for Deluxe PC digital download code
• 54.99 for Deluxe PS4 and Xbox One physical editions
• 69.99 for Gold PC digital download code

Amazon, on the other hand has a wider range of options than GAME, mainly due to the addition of Xbox One digital download codes, and its prices are currently lower across the board:

• 39.99 for Standard and Deluxe PC digital download codes
• 44.00 for Standard PS4 and Xbox One physical editions
• 54.99 for Standard Xbox One digital download code
• 54.99 for Deluxe Xbox One digital download code
• 64.99 for Gold PC digital download code
• 79.99 for Gold Xbox One digital download code

Tesco is only stocking physical versions of the Standard PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game, both of which are priced at 44.00, but Sainsbury’s and Asda have yet to open pre-orders. Argos is also only stocking physical versions of the Standard PS4 and Xbox One editions, but these are currently priced at 54.99 each.

Digital versions of Ghost Recon Wildlands will also be available direct from the PlayStation Store and Xbox Games Store.

PlayStation Store:

• 54.99 for Deluxe digital edition
• 79.99 for Gold digital edition

Xbox Games Store:

• 49.90 for Standard Edition

Ghost Recon Wildlands merchandise

At time of writing, the only official merchandise is an official Grim Reaper figurine from the game which costs 49.99 direct from Ubisoft or GAME and is part of the Ubicollectables range.