Watch Dogs

Watch Dogs is an open-world action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released in May 2014 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Windows, with a Wii U version arriving later that year. The game is set in a fictionalized version of Chicago, Illinois, where a citywide operating system called ctOS connects infrastructure, security cameras, traffic lights, mobile phones, and personal information. The protagonist is Aiden Pearce, a highly skilled hacker and former thief. Before the main story, Aiden and his associate Damien Brenks conduct a digital robbery at the Merlaut Hotel. Their intrusion attracts the attention of another hacker, later identified as Jordi Chin's employer Maurice Vega. An attempted hit intended for Aiden kills his six-year-old niece, Lena Pearce. Aiden becomes a vigilante known to Chicago residents as the “Fox,” pursuing those responsible for Lena's death while using ctOS to surveil and manipulate the city. Aiden's hacking abilities are central to gameplay. He can access security-camera networks, trigger blackouts, raise road barriers, alter traffic signals, and view data profiles attached to pedestrians. The game includes a smartphone-style interface through which players receive missions, manage weapons, find collectibles, and interact with the city. Its driving, shooting, stealth, and hacking systems allow missions to be approached in different ways. Police attention is represented by a notoriety system, and Aiden can evade officers by disabling communications, hiding, or using environmental hacks. Chicago's criminal and political conflicts involve several named groups and figures. The Irish Mob is led by Dermot “Lucky” Quinn, while the Black Viceroys gang is associated with Iraq War veteran and crime boss Delford “Iraq” Wade. Aiden also confronts corporate executive Thomas Geary, criminal hacker Defalt, and the powerful businessman Donovan Rushmore. His investigation eventually reveals that Maurice was hired after Lucky Quinn ordered the attack, believing Aiden's hotel job had endangered Quinn's interests. Watch Dogs features online multiplayer components that connect players' games. In online hacking mode, one player secretly enters another player's world and must collect data without being identified. Online tailing asks a player to follow another player's target undetected. The game also includes competitive racing and decryption modes. Its companion app originally allowed mobile users to interfere with console or PC players in an asymmetric mode, although Ubisoft later discontinued the app's online services. The game's development was publicly revealed at Ubisoft's E3 2012 press conference. Its initial demonstration drew particular attention for showing a dense urban environment controlled through hacking. Watch Dogs became Ubisoft's best-selling new intellectual property at launch, according to the company. It later received the story expansion Bad Blood, starring Aiden's ally Raymond “T-Bone” Kenney, and was followed by Watch Dogs 2 in 2016.