Watch Dogs Legion: everything we know so far

Watch Dogs Legion, the third in the Watch Dogs series, will take place in the dystopian near-future. As with previous Watch Dogs games set in Chicago and San Francisco, Legion will be set in the fictional version of a major city. This time around, we're headed across the pond to London in order to, as creative director Clint Hocking told Famitsu, approach problems in other parts of the world. London after Brexit, that is, so not too fictional nor too futuristic.

Unlike previous Watch Dogs games, Legion brings a neat twist: Every character in the game is a potential protagonist for you to recruit to your cause. Each comes with their own traits and skills that you can use before hopping into another member of your budding resistance movement.

Ubi shared a solid chunk of gameplay during its press conference to show off how different types of characters can be recruited and operate. We also went hands-on with Watch Dogs Legion and came away massively impressed. Below is everything else you need to know about Watch Dogs Legion ahead of its (now delayed) launch.

What is Watch Dogs Legion's release date?

Watch Dogs Legion has been delayed to an unknown time in 2020 or 2021, according to Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot during a financial call in late 2019 as reported by MarketScreener. We were quite impressed with Watch Dogs Legion during our hands on sessions around E3 2019, so it may stand to reason that Watch Dogs will be the least delayed of the bunch (Ubisoft announced delays for other games during the same call). Watch Dogs Legion's originally planned release date was March 6, 2020.

Apparently Ghost Recon Breakpoint's poor reception has Ubisoft reconsidering the level of polish needed for launch. Guillemot said that Ubisoft wants to ensure the "gameplay innovations" for each of its games "need to be perfectly implemented in order to offer an optimal experience."

Watch Dogs Legion is set in post-Brexit London

Real-life London is already known for its heavy use of surveillance technology. Watch Dogs Legion's post-Brexit London is a whole new level of tech dystopia. Drones are now heavily integrated into society, some of which are basically flying cops, equipped with weapons and scanning for troublemakers at all times. A new private security company, Albion, has gained influence across the city. Blume, the evil tech super company from the last two games, still appears to be pulling the strings behind the scenes.

It turns out that, while Brexit might have informed some of the story or decisions Ubisoft made about the game, the choice of location was made before Brexit was all we could talk about. Before Brexit, things were already a little bleak. Surveillance has been a concern seemingly forever.

"We chose London as a setting before the Brexit debate was even happening," Watch Dogs Legion creative director Clint Hocking told PCGamesN, "and certainly before the vote."

In what may or may not be another prescient design decision, Scotland is independent from the UK in Legion's timeline.

Watch Dogs Legion lets you recruit and play as any NPC in the game

That's a big claim, but Watch Dogs Legion is an ambitious game. There is no one protagonist in Legion. Cutscenes, story beats, and dialogue will all change depending on the DedSec member you're currently playing as. Each character has a host of different attributes that affect their playstyle. Scanning a random citizen might reveal that their background makes them better at non-lethal takedowns or hacking drones. But you can't just hit a button and recruit them right away—you have to sway them to your side, convince them DedSec is worth risking their life for.

Samuel went hands-on with Watch Dogs Legion and came away impressed with how deep the recruitment system goes. "I recruited a person, watched her liberate Camden Market from goons (and put Abe Welch in the hospital), then saw her get double crossed and shot dead in front of a massive security force. I was a little bit attached. The game's big idea is working."

NPCs aren't only a set of stats, though. For instance, killing a man on the street will cause his family to resent DedSec, which affects your chances of recruiting them. In Samuel's hands-on, he accidentally put a man in the hospital, hacked the hospital to pay for his treatment, and then ingratiated them to DedSec's cause.

A person's stats are influenced by their backstory. For instance, someone who has been injured by Albion soldiers in the past might have a damage buff against them. Someone who creates 3D printed art forgeries gets a discount when using the in-game 3D printer to make new weapons. Some are more a little wackier, like the Derek Adyebo NPC seen in the demo, who is "addicted to adrenaline." He deals 100 percent extra damage, but "may die randomly." Jeez.

There are three classes for DedSec agents: Enforcer, Infiltrator, and Hacker

After recruiting a new citizen to join DedSec, you can assign them one of three classes: Enforcer, Infiltrator, and Hacker. They can all perform the same basic combat and stealth, though as we saw with grandma Helen, physical attributes can effect their combat capability. As for what separates each class, it mostly comes down to extra perks