The Rise and Fall of Watch Dogs

[00:00] The use of computer-run industrial control  systems has grown exponentially over the last   decade and change. Such infrastructures  help cities and nations around the world  

[00:12] manage power plants, surveillance, and  countless other integral functions.   But as sci-fi media has long predicted,  interconnected supercomputers can facilitate   just as many problems as they solve. In 2010,  100,000 Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition,  

[00:29] or SCADA, networks were discovered to have been  targeted with the sophisticated Stuxnet virus,   a digital weapon allegedly co-engineered by  U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies to   debilitate the Iranian nuclear program. Developer  Ubisoft Montr al studied such headline news when  

[00:46] formulating its cautionary tale about the horrors  of an interconnected world in Watch Dogs.   Announced with an awe-inspiring trailer during  E3 2012, Watch Dogs counted among first games  

[00:58] shown for the eighth console generation.  While its final form failed to fulfill the   promise of the original teaser, many would  argue the title s gameplay mechanics still   showcased the power of next-gen technology. These  talking points undoubtedly boosted Watch Dogs s  

[01:13] sales numbers early on and helped it sustain  long legs with over 10 million copies sold.   But this incredible momentum waxed and waned over  the course of the series s life cycle. Watch Dogs  

[01:25] 2 released to better reception, though it came  and went with little fanfare. And the third   installment found itself beset by game-breaking  performance issues at launch. Watch Dogs has, thus   far, managed to claw its way back from multiple  downturns, raising questions as to how Ubisoft  

[01:42] will reinvent the hacking-focused series next. This is the Rise and Fall of Watch Dogs.  

[02:03] The kernel of the idea that engendered Watch Dogs  s conception stemmed from a conversation between   Ubisoft Montr al developers four to five years  before its 2014 release. In an interview with  

[02:16] the PlayStation Blog, Creative Director Jonathan  Morin recalled how the discussion centered on   the ease with which the average person stores  private information in their phones and the   life-changing implications of such ease of  access. These conversations eventually grew  

[02:30] more thought-provoking, culminating in the  development of Watch Dogs features like the   Profiler a tool used for retrieving personal  information from non-playable characters.   Yet the basis of Watch Dogs s underlying premise  dug deeper than simple data storage. Developers  

[02:46] also cited the shocking investigation into  a presumed murder in Chicago as a source   of inspiration, especially since police  findings hinged on data analytics and CCTV   footage. The death of Chicago s Board  of Education President, Michael Scott,  

[03:00] in November 2009 rocked the state of Illinois.  Notably, the manner in which his remains were   discovered led local police to believe his  passing resulted from foul play. In pursuit   of more concrete answers, authorities  employed data analytics to probe through  

[03:15] hours of surveillance footage; their findings  revealed the gentleman had taken his own life.   According to Jonathan Morin, the Montr al-based  studio extrapolated a bit from these events when   deciding that Chicago would serve as the setting  of its city-hacking, open-world adventure.  

[03:31] The metropolis s reputation as a city in crisis  rested at the forefront of the decision as well,   given that its storied criminal history lent  plausibility to the idea of a SCADA-like system   being installed within city limits. That Chicago  became America s most surveilled city after  

[03:48] Montr al selected the locale felt like a home  run for the team, Morin later told Forbes.   Watch Dogs version of the Windy City ran on  an electronic infrastructure that developers   dubbed the Central Operating System or ctOS.  The mainframe was designed to control nearly  

[04:04] every aspect of the urban landscape s civic  resources, from traffic lights and crime   prediction technology to electricity grids  and cellular communications. Combining the   Orwellian-esque control motif with satire about  society s willingness to surrender private details  

[04:19] through smart devices laid the groundwork  for Watch Dogs s in-game mechanics. Thus,   developers gave players the tools to suspend  working bridges one minute, then steal money from   a random person s bank account the next. No matter  how simple or complex, each of these actions were  

[04:35] funneled through what Morin described as the  project s toughest selling point hacking.  

[04:51] The Montr al crew s initial pitch posed a  fairly straightforward question What if I   knew everything about you? Given Ubisoft  s penchant for requiring a differentiator,   a hook that avoids being another gimmick, hacking  sat at the forefront of the proposal. The powers  

[05:06] that be weren t convinced at first, believing  hacking had yet to reach mainstream audiences,   certainly not enough to warrant it becoming the  core pillar of a Triple-A video game. Developers   deftly pivoted to a different tactic, prioritizing  privacy and the moral conundrums presented to  

[05:22] hackers. It seemed a shrewd move considering the  attention being garnered by hacktivist collectives   like Anonymous. The moment-to-moment challenge  for Watch Dogs didn t rely on the execution of   hacking, then; making the right judgment call  proved far more instrumental to the experience.  

[05:38] Consequently, the main gameplay  feature demanded the utmost simplicity,   achieved by mapping each hacking-related action  to a single button. Removing complex controls   represented a key point of interest for the  development team. After all, the ability to  

[05:52] take control of various electronic objects had to  remain consistent when players operated vehicles,   engaged in shootouts, or participated in  any number of secondary mechanics. Morin   stated in a Game Developer sit-down that in  pursuing barebones hacking controls, the studio  

[06:08] even opted to excise shooting for a time, which  helped further refine other gameplay elements.   Though formulating exciting and intuitive  hacking mechanics necessitated a long,   iterative process, Watch Dogs s playable  anti-hero came to life with relative ease.  

[06:24] Ubisoft Montr al first examined protagonists  in games like its own Assassin s Creed,   realizing that contextualization hardly played a  part in their basic behaviors. These characters   typically navigated in-game worlds like robots,  their movements seldom adjusting to changing  

[06:41] circumstances. Watch Dogs creators wanted to push  the envelope in this regard with their new IP.   Protagonist Aiden Pearce, thus, embodied  the role of a streetwise character,   someone keenly aware of his surroundings who  thrived on going unnoticed. Everything from  

[06:56] Aiden s actions to his aesthetic design needed  to reflect as much. He wore a mask to disguise   himself from news media, for instance, pulling it  up when engaging in illegal activities. Similarly,   the character wore a hat whose brim he d tug down  to avoid attracting unwanted attention. Morin  

[07:12] argued the baseball cap won out over a hoodie as  such disguises had been done to death. Finally,   the studio fitted its plainly-dressed hacker  with a trench coat predominantly used for hiding   various items. The coat also provided another  way of showcasing wind physics, an aspect of the  

[07:28] experience made possible by the Disrupt Engine. Sometime after acquiring the Driver IP, Ubisoft   dedicated a team to building a brand-new driving  game engine. As the publisher s North American   President, Laurent Detoc, explained in an IGN  interview, the driving-centric project ultimately  

[07:45] fell to the cutting room floor. As opposed to  utilizing the AnvilNext Engine that powered   Assassin s Creed 3, Ubisoft Montr al repurposed  the abandoned driving engine, retrofitting it   in a way to suit the needs of Watch Dogs. Senior Producer Dominic Guay broke the Disrupt  

[08:01] technology down into three pillars. The engine s  surface layer revolved around dynamism, defined as   the in-game simulation network that governed how  systems interacted with one another to facilitate  

[08:13] branching reactions. This layer of the technology,  in turn, guaranteed civilians would open umbrellas   whenever it rained. Such a layer of immersion also  informed clothing simulation, whereby high winds  

[08:25] tugging at an NPC's clothes would result  in a character tightening their jacket.   Guay devoted the second tier to impact,  noting that, in the absence of a black and   white morality system, Watch Dogs judged player  behavior according to the city s perception of  

[08:40] Aiden s actions. Animation Director Colin  Graham described it as a reputation system,   designed to ensure users never felt their  decisions were guided by some invisible thread.   Disrupt s third core tenet catered to seamless  connectivity to the game s multiplayer component,  

[08:56] which required neither loading nor matchmaking.  In general, Ubisoft Montr al devised an online   suite for Watch Dogs that augmented the action.  One player could accept a contract with another   s name on it, infiltrate their target s world, and  wait for the perfect opportunity to strike. This  

[09:13] optional game of cat and mouse further elevated  the hacking conceit. Better still, the multiplayer   suite worked across console generations,  thanks to the Disrupt engine s flexibility.   The technology behind Watch Dogs was built with  then-next-gen consoles in mind, but accommodated  

[09:30] the needs of PS3 and Xbox 360 hardware. And in  an attempt to create as much parity between the   console generations as possible, the Montr al  group made certain the core experience played   the same on all platforms. On PC, PS4, and Xbox  One, the differences manifested via improvements  

[09:47] to particle simulation, shaders, wind, water,  and AI behavior. Ubisoft showcased these   next-gen enhancements and more to great applause  during Watch Dogs s first public showing, yet the  

[10:00] showcase would eventually prove equally beneficial  and detrimental to the IP s initial outing.  

[10:13] Ubisoft s E3 2012 media briefing boasted  more than its share of heavy hitters,   with the likes of Assassin s Creed 3 and Far Cry  3 taking center stage. By the end of the show,   however, the public had taken a special  interest in a newly revealed property.  

[10:28] The Watch Dogs demonstration took inspiration from  a YouTube video on the Stuxnet virus, and depicted   a fictional world where private corporations  profited from personal data collection through   their power over a major city s Central Operating  System. Jonathan Morin sold viewers on the  

[10:44] promise of weaponizing a metropolis, using its  supercomputer to uncover the citizenry s darkest   secrets. But the title s awe-inspiring visual  presentation especially turned heads, courtesy   of its impressive dynamic lighting, wind physics,  and stunning attention to the smallest details.  

[11:01] At the time, Ubisoft could only confirm  the project s release on PC, PS3, Wii U,   and Xbox 360, yet speculation about its  status as a next-gen title persisted  

[11:13] for several months due to the E3 demo s  unbelievable visual fidelity. The publisher   finally cleared the air at the PS4 reveal  event in February 2013, wherein Watch Dogs  

[11:25] reappeared as a PS4 title slated to arrive  with the console s launch later that year.   News of the inevitable Xbox One version hit the  airwaves a few months thereafter but not before   Ubisoft came under fire for the game s appalling  list of special edition packages. Four different  

[11:42] Collector s Editions were announced in Europe, for  instance, neither of which contained every piece   of supplemental content. And multiple regions  received exclusive DLC in certain editions,   meaning players would have to purchase  Collector s Editions from around the  

[11:55] world to enjoy Watch Dogs in its entirety  a commitment that would ve cost $1,200.   Despite the glitz and glamour, Watch Dogs wasn  t ready for primetime, evidenced by a delay that  

[12:07] pushed the title out of its November 2013 release  date to Spring 2014. An official statement from   Ubisoft communicated a refusal to compromise on  quality, as the publisher expected Watch Dogs  

[12:19] to embody the capabilities of next-gen gaming.  Company CEO Yves Guillemot elaborated further,   noting the importance of providing time for  additional polish to a property slated to count   among the perennial pillars of Ubisoft's financial  performance. In short, projects such as Watch Dogs  

[12:36] would prove paramount to the French company s  long-term goal of winning the next generation.   The Montr al crew had different reasons  for taking advantage of a protracted   development cycle. Morin revealed one  of the main motivating factors behind  

[12:49] the delay stemmed from some playtesters  discovering complex systems too early,   leading to unintended outcomes that disrupted the  flow of the game. When it finally landed on store   shelves in May 2014, these intricacies  seemed the least of player concerns.  

[13:17] Ubisoft unveiled the Watch Dogs release  date in a March 2014 story trailer that   quickly garnered backlash because of what many  perceived as a visual downgrade. This discourse   picked up steam when a NeoGAF post claiming  to confirm the downgrade went viral online,  

[13:33] presenting a side-by-side comparison of the 2012  reveal video and 2014 story trailer. Would-be   players and media outlets agreed there existed  a notable difference between the two. Ubisoft  

[13:46] representatives were less inclined to admit as  much; one PR manager went so far as to insist a   downgrade would be ridiculous. Regardless, the  change in graphical quality was irrefutable.  

[13:58] A post-launch technical analysis from Digital  Foundry concluded that lighting and reflection   effects appeared less advanced in the final  build. How wind simulation impacted in-game  

[14:11] objects had taken a hit during development,  as well. The number of NPCs on-screen along   with their once robust set of behaviors  similarly lacked the technical depth shown   in 2012. These downgrades even applied to  high-end PCs with Ultra settings enabled.  

[14:27] Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot addressed the matter  in July 2015, telling The Guardian that Watch   Dogs s downgrade controversy forced the publisher  to adjust tactics and only show demos playable on  

[14:39] a game s target machines. Senior Producer  Dominic Guay later explained the rationale   behind the graphical shift, which hinged on the  fact that developers knew nothing about Sony s and   Microsoft s eighth-console generation plans during  the early days of production. Therefore, despite  

[14:55] building Watch Dogs for next-gen technology,  Ubisoft Montr al had to predict new hardware   capabilities, a practice that meant running  the original demo on a very powerful PC.  

[15:07] Interestingly, if the studio had its way, Watch  Dogs would not have premiered at E3 2012 in any   capacity. Speaking with EDGE Magazine, Jonathan  Morin claimed Guillemot pushed for the project  

[15:19] s trade show appearance, though developers  expressed trepidation because it felt a bit   early. Morin added that the Ubisoft executive  s intuition paid off in hindsight. The title   launched to middling critic and user reception,  yet neither that nor the drama surrounding its  

[15:35] visuals impacted sales. Early data showed  Watch Dogs broke Ubisoft sales records in   its first 24 hours at retail; within a week,  the hacking-centric adventure eclipsed four  

[15:47] million units sold worldwide. The French publisher  suddenly had yet another megahit on its hands.   Watch Dogs s debut enjoyed boundless success  upon release. On the back of a pre-delay budget  

[16:03] totaling more than $68 million, a figure that  didn t include marketing spend, the title moved 10   million units ahead of its one-year anniversary.  Along with a diversified holiday 2014 lineup that  

[16:15] included two Assassin s Creeds and Far Cry 4,  the new IP drove Ubisoft to historic earnings   for the third quarter of the 2014-2015 fiscal  year. Thus, as the investment in open-world  

[16:27] games continued to pay dividends, Watch Dogs  became a pivotal part of the company s growth.   Not all facets of the newly minted franchise  would return for its inevitable follow-up entry.   The graphical downgrade aside, Aiden Pearce,  the somber Chicago setting, and lackluster  

[16:43] storytelling received the bulk of the criticism  leveled against Watch Dogs. Ubisoft Montr al took   note of the scorn, with Senior Producer Dominic  Guay spending hours combing through NeoGAF   threads for user feedback. Guay told GameSpot  the biggest takeaway was that players never  

[17:00] found the game world believable. The bustling  city of Chicago felt flat instead of lively, and   the revenge-seeking plot with its brooding main  character pulled many out of the experience.  

[17:12] Watch Dogs 2 addressed each critique head-on,  resulting in a livelier setting and a younger,   more enthusiastic protagonist. Notably, the  San Francisco setting counted among the first  

[17:24] decisions made about the sequel, an easy choice  given the Montr al crew s eagerness to design a   world based on a sunnier locale. That the Bay Area  s tech culture has long been heralded as a hub of   innovation further secured its consideration as  the ideal backdrop for a narrative structured  

[17:40] around technology-based conspiracies. While San Francisco couldn t be built to   scale because of its overwhelming size and legal  issues concerning certain buildings, Watch Dogs 2   creators did their best to capture the spirit  of the metropolis. The Watch Dogs version of  

[17:54] the Bay, consequently, encompassed Oakland, San  Francisco proper, a scaled down Silicon Valley,   and a portion of Marin County, the latter of which  made the cut due to its sandbox type of feel.  

[18:06] After settling on a central location, the  studio knew a young hacker boasting a hacker   s motivation should constitute the glue that tied  the narrative together. Ubisoft Montr al quickly  

[18:18] using the series Anonymous analogue DedSec  for tackling big data concerns. An African   American man from Oakland who d witnessed racial  injustice and was framed for a cybercrime anchored  

[18:33] the next phase of the then-nascent property. While youth and race differentiated Watch Dogs   2 s Marcus Holloway from Aiden Pearce,  Marcus additionally shifted the tone,   his charm and light-hearted disposition reflecting  the new game s presentation. It made sense, then,  

[18:49] that where Aiden s lone wolf approach mirrored his  grim history, Marcus s personable characteristics   opened the door for an emphasis on teamwork. And  the collaborative bent paired well with the new   character s passion for activism, giving  rise to DedSec s mission of facilitating  

[19:04] social change by exposing corruption. These changes to the Watch Dogs blueprint   couldn t only manifest in character work and  storytelling, though. Player feedback on the   original suggested the sequel demanded  gameplay improvements on multiple fronts.  

[19:17] To the delight of many, one update forced the  abandonment of a long-running Ubisoft staple.  

[19:31] Assassin s Creed and Far Cry reinvigorated the  open-world genre in myriad ways, yet the so-called   Ubisoft towers these brands introduced became a  source of great frustration as developers from  

[19:43] across the industry repurposed the mechanic in  their own sandbox adventures. Generally speaking,   the mechanic functioned such that accessing  towers on a map unlocked missions and points   of interests in surrounding areas. Watch Dogs  boasted a similar gameplay system. Rather than  

[19:58] reappropriate towers for the sequel,  Ubisoft Montr al booted them in favor   of a revised approach to story progression. Instead of linking progression to story beats   or set locations, developers devised a system  wherein players could focus on exploring.  

[20:14] Virtual followers who supported the DedSec cause  represented the linchpin of said system. Speaking   to VentureBeat, Dominic Guay explained that  building progression around DedSec s online   following seemed natural considering how people in  the real world viewed their personal progress on  

[20:30] social media. Attracting followers when completing  activities was designed to function like earning   XP, in that a progressively larger following begat  bigger operations and new cooperative activities.  

[20:42] In spite of its public-facing social endeavors,  DedSec still needed a semblance of anonymity and   mystique. The sequel s creative leads tapped  into the DIY nature of hacker culture, fitting  

[20:54] characters like Wrench with digital masks, while  borrowing visual aesthetics from the Animated GIF   Culture and 1940s pulp comics when crafting the  collective s propaganda material. Art Director   Mathieu Leduc insisted these touches added flavor  and attitude to DedSec and the overall experience,  

[21:11] elements the previous title arguably lacked. The Do-It-Yourself motif also aided in   differentiating Marcus gameplay style. Watch  Dogs s original anti-hero used a nightstick  

[21:23] as his weapon of choice; the Watch Dogs 2 lead s  agility combined with online research inspired the   Montr al firm to devise a DIY weapon fit for  a more athletic fighting style. As a result,  

[21:35] Marcus adopted a billiard ball with a length  of rope wound through it as his primary   melee weapon. And in response to criticism  about Aiden s constant use of lethal force,   Guay and Game Director Danny B langer said the  crew thought it prudent to equip the younger  

[21:49] hacker with a taser for non-lethal engagements,  effectively allowing for no-kill playthroughs.   Each element worked to expand upon the brand  s core conceit, which the first outing only   delivered to a degree. For instance, the number  of hackable machines and smart devices at Aiden  

[22:05] s disposal was severely limited compared to  the possibilities presented to Marcus. Ubisoft   made the effort to work more closely with real  hackers, too, hiring them as consultants who   validated scripts and helped tweak gameplay  mechanics. Of course, Watch Dogs couldn t  

[22:19] replicate the challenge of hacking, but the  action wasn t about complex processes so much   as it centered on the creativity of what players  could do with the skillset at their fingertips.  

[22:35] On top of elevated storytelling and hacking  capabilities, Watch Dogs 2 received a number   of other game-changing adjustments. Driver  creator Ubisoft Reflections helped revamp   the previously dismal driving controls. An  overhauled multiplayer component allowed users  

[22:49] to enjoy specially designed missions with fellow  players, further distancing the San Francisco-set   romp from the relatively lifeless streets of  Chicago. Better yet, according to Dominic Guay,   the cooperative mode used an algorithm to  increase the chances of players encountering  

[23:04] during compatible times of the day. The sequel especially benefitted from being   built from the ground up for PS4, Xbox One, and  higher-end PCs. As such, fans were assured they   had no reason to worry over another graphical  downgrade controversy. Guay imparted as much  

[23:21] during an interview with The Evening Standard,  informing the publication that an evolved version   of the Disrupt engine significantly expanded upon  the newer game s graphics. Players could, in turn,   expect realistic lighting and effects, in addition  to a larger and better detailed cityscape.  

[23:38] Disrupt s upgraded technology presented  Ubisoft Montr al with an opportunity to   reevaluate the relationship between the player  character and the in-game world, as well. Watch   Dogs 2 broke away from centering the world  around the protagonist and their behavior,  

[23:51] no longer focusing NPC reactions on the user s  antics. Developers figured non-playable characters   should also react to each other, and created  situations wherein one Bay Area citizen might   pick a fight or call the cops on someone else.  Higher-intelligence NPCs served as but another  

[24:08] beat of immersion that helped breathe life into  the digital representation of San Francisco.   Each enhancement introduced in Watch Dogs  2 stemmed from an internal belief that the   sequel needed to one up its predecessor.  Ubisoft s Senior VP of Sales and Marketing,  

[24:22] Tony Key, addressed this notion long  before the second project s announcement,   telling GameSpot a potential follow-up had to  bring something innovative and entertaining   to the table, lest the brand fall into  early stagnation. Lucky for Ubisoft,  

[24:36] the Marcus Holloway-starring adventure injected  the IP with a much-needed burst of energy.   Ubisoft publicly mentioned Watch Dogs 2 for  the first time during a February 2016 earnings  

[24:51] briefing, in which the publisher expressed  intentions of shipping the sequel before the end   after photos of a gift box mailed to influencers  made the rounds on social media. It was in a Watch   Dogs-dedicated livestream that the French company  formally introduced the world to Marcus Holloway  

[25:04] and the reimagined San Francisco Bay Area. The development team s insistence that it   listened to feedback coupled with the new  protagonist and setting excited newcomers   and fans alike. A more in-depth showing at E3  2016 drummed up quite a bit of anticipation,  

[25:21] too. And the brief span of time between the  project s reveal and November 2016 due date   eliminated the drawn out waiting period that had  plagued the original title s marketing cycle.   Many felt Ubisoft Montr al s efforts paid off  since the Watch Dogs franchise s sophomore  

[25:37] endeavor received marginally better reviews  than its gloomier predecessor. The shift to   a less self-serious tone narrowed the barrier  to immersion, for one. A greater emphasis on   hacking mechanics as well as an easy-going  and likable lead character also sealed the  

[25:51] deal. But the storytelling still suffered  in places, often clashing with over-the-top   gameplay antics while subjectively failing  to hold player interest long-term.   Though widely deemed a massive leap forward,  soft launch sales indicated not all fans of  

[26:06] the original were willing to give the IP  a second chance. In the UK, for instance,   data estimates suggested Watch Dogs 2 moved less  than 80,000 units in its debut week, a stark   contrast from the 380,000 units that Watch Dogs  pushed during its first seven days. The United  

[26:23] States NPD charts showed the San Francisco-based  adventure premiered at number eight in November,   due in large part to a month whose sales  were dominated by Call of Duty, Battlefield,   and Pok mon Sun and Moon. A Ubisoft representative  said in a statement that other Triple-A titles had  

[26:40] similarly struggled to start strong, but the  publisher believed generally positive critic   and user reviews would bolster Watch Dogs  2 s commercial success in the long run.   This belief in the game s staying power eventually  bore fruit. During a February 2017 financial call,  

[26:55] Yves Guillemot cited good word-of-mouth as  the reason for an incredible surge in sales   that proved integral to the brand s long-term  future. It marked the beginning of a long tail,   considering Watch Dogs 2 later featured on the  list of 11 Ubisoft games that sold 10-plus million  

[27:12] units throughout the PS4 and Xbox One era. As that era of consoles wound down, discourse   regarding next-generation technology swelled  with industry pundits and players musing over the  

[27:26] questionable necessity of even higher fidelity  graphics. But creators had their sights set on   far more than photorealistic visuals and increased  frame rates. Veterans from outfits such as Naughty   Dog proposed the true measure of next-gen  consoles would be rooted in a developer s  

[27:42] ability to design intricate in-game simulations  capable of fostering unparalleled levels of   immersion. The third Watch Dogs stepped up as one  of the first titles to realize these ambitions.  

[27:54] Splinter Cell and Far Cry 2 scribe Clint Hocking  spearheaded the project, his penchant for   designing experiences with emergent game systems  helping Ubisoft fulfill the original promise of   Watch Dogs. Hocking exited Ubisoft two years after  shipping Far Cry 2 in 2008, then lent his talents  

[28:11] to Valve, Amazon, and LucasArts. Ubisoft welcomed  the veteran game designer back with open arms   in 2015 when the Toronto studio s Managing  Director, Alex Parizeau, consulted Hocking  

[28:23] about leading production on the what would become  Watch Dogs: Legion. The wheels began turning from   that point forward, as ideas involving playable  NPCs and real population simulation cemented the  

[28:35] building blocks of the franchise s most ambitious  adventure, a journey whose thesis argued that   anybody could be a hero in times of unrest. Upon adopting the novel Play as Anyone motif,  

[28:47] Ubisoft Toronto developed a need for new  technologies to support its idiosyncratic   vision. Hocking divulged to The Washington Post  that the initial two years of production consisted   of several prototypes that died on the vine; given  the frequency at which new challenges emerged,  

[29:02] leaders found high morale difficult to maintain  amongst staff. Yet, Lead Programmer Chris Dragert   claimed the crew reveled in the problem-solving  nature of Legion s development. Sit-downs where   programmers gathered to solve technical and  design obstacles were called The Beast meetings,  

[29:17] a moniker that more or less understated the  immense task of building the Census System.   As the massive relational database  behind Legion s in-game simulations,   the Census came to life fairly early on. The  system spawned NPCs like every other game,  

[29:33] except profiling a character prompted the  relational database to generate a backstory   for characters in real time. A profiled NPC then  became a persistent part of the player s world,   someone possessing a unique look, lifestyle,  schedule, and relations to their fellow NPCs.  

[29:49] If recruited to DedSec, the non-playable character  morphed into a playable operative, complete with   specific abilities and a user-assigned class. Unsurprisingly, logistical problems with crafting  

[30:01] the Census arose across several departments  due to the sheer number of variables. Unknowns   regarding player behavior forced developers  to rethink open-world design standards. Lead   Game Designer Liz England disclosed in  a Washington Post interview that Ubisoft  

[30:15] Toronto didn t concern itself with predicting  user-related conduct so much as it focused on   making room for every possible scenario. Animators also had to contend with creating   cinematics for characters whose physical features  and attitude were a mystery. A solve for this  

[30:30] peculiar dilemma manifested as novel technology  structured around predictability. Put simply,   the tech in question worked such that a cutscene  starring two characters with different lengths of   dialogue could dynamically expand and compress  itself. Animations would speed up or slow down,  

[30:46] as a result; similarly, Legion s  dynamic lighting rig could change   in real time based on varying skin tones. The need to account for dozens upon dozens of  

[31:02] possible story outcomes affected the scriptwriting  process, as well. Legion boasted five primary   questlines at the start, which complicated  the narrative. To better streamline things,   Lead Writer Cameron Labine said DedSec entered  the role of protagonist, allowing the creative  

[31:18] team to guide the hacker group through a  traditional hero s journey irrespective   of which characters formed the crew. Writing the script unraveled a whole host   of other hard-to-manage issues, all tackled by  a massive writing department. Many writers were  

[31:32] assigned a specific persona to draft, such as a  tailor or mechanic. Each persona then received   myriad traits for diversification s sake, adding  to the combinations of animations, skillsets,   voices, backstories, and procedurally-generated  body and face types that supplied the cornerstone  

[31:49] on which the Census conjured every NPC. All  told, the script went through multiple drafts,   the entire process informed by a technique  wherein a first draft with generic lines   delineated the structure of conversation. Writers  then revised subsequent iterations of the script,  

[32:05] exchanging generic dialogue sequences  to befit every possible character.   Infinite diversity was impossible, of  course, and developers never hid the fact   that players would inevitably encounter  repeat faces, voices, and behaviors.  

[32:20] Still, the system featured enough variables to  blur the lines quite a bit, making for experiences   bolstered by a semblance of reality. And if  Ubisoft Toronto wanted the NPC-driven world to   truly feel alive, it had to stick the landing on  realism. A player couldn t kill a woman s husband,  

[32:37] then expect to successfully recruit  the widow as a DedSec operative.   These relational dynamics between NPCs were  additionally heightened by the world they   occupied a near-future, post-Brexit London. The  team had the city locked in as Legion s setting  

[32:52] a year and a half before the Brexit vote; however,  the decision posed a great source of inspiration   since Hocking believed creators across all mediums  bore the responsibility of examining contemporary   events to create something meaningful for  audiences to engage with. Ubisoft Toronto answered  

[33:08] the call by imaging a dystopian post-Brexit  London governed by an authoritarian regime.   Naturally, the Brexit talking point, along with  the focus on civil unrest and a surveillance   state, incited controversy. Within days of  Watch Dogs: Legion s E3 2019 announcement,  

[33:25] pundits on BBC s Politics Live show labeled it  a paranoid apocalyptic fever dream. But this   portrayal of a possible near future, even if  hyperbolic, provided the perfect backdrop for  

[33:37] a DedSec-led resistance movement. Unfortunately  for the game s creators, its troubled launch   left little room for discussion about  the content and overarching themes.  

[33:53] Originally scheduled to arrive by the end of  March 2020, Watch Dogs: Legion and two other   Triple-A titles were delayed by several  months following the disappointing sales   for The Division 2 and Ghost Recon: Breakpoint.  Both Tom Clancy-branded games debuted in 2019,  

[34:09] their subpar performance a product of ineffective  gameplay innovations and live-service-related   shortcomings. Because The Division and Ghost  Recon sequels led to less-than-expected earnings,   Ubisoft gave Legion extra time to stew in  hopes the Toronto team could deliver an  

[34:25] optimal experience. The extended production  period may have helped in some respects,   yet technical issues pervaded Watch  Dogs: Legion when it landed in the   fall of 2020 for Google Stadia, PC,  last-gen, and next-gen consoles.  

[34:40] Players on PC and last-gen consoles  encountered rampant crashing problems   at launch. PC users additionally fell victim  to save file glitches that culminated in lost   progress. It didn t take long for Ubisoft to  prioritize addressing the game-breaking bugs,  

[34:55] forcing Toronto to postpone its multiplayer  update beyond the December 2020 release date.   When the online cooperative modes finally hit  consoles and Stadia in March 2021, Legion s PC  

[35:07] user-base had to wait an extra nine days amid  concerns about another game-crashing bug.   The third Watch Dogs title performed well  despite its many hiccups, breaking series   records by selling 1.9 million digital units in  just three days. In terms of the content itself,  

[35:22] the technical flaws only plagued the  London-set outing for so long. In fact,   Legion enjoyed a robust post-launch content  release schedule that included free and paid DLC,   with the Season Pass containing story missions  starring Aiden Pearce, Watch Dogs 2 s Wrench,  

[35:38] and a non-canon member of the Assassin s Order. Such support ground to a halt in January 2022   once Ubisoft confirmed that September 2021  s 5.6 patch had marked the final update  

[35:51] of consequence. The multiplayer suite would  repeatedly cycle through seasons three, four,   and five, however, providing some semblance of  refreshed online offerings on a regular basis.   Beyond Legion s recycled multiplayer seasons,  what the future holds for Watch Dogs remains  

[36:06] to be seen. Its rocky existence equates  to genre-defining ideas packaged inside   of arguably average-at-best adventures that  stopped short of reaching their full potential.   If Ubisoft still considers Watch Dogs vital to  its portfolio, the inconsistent trajectory of  

[36:22] the ctOS-powered property indicates it may have  a few more growing pains to overcome.