After today, Ubisoft’s open-world hacking adventure Watch Dogs: Legion will no longer receive any new content or patches. After the Bloodline expansion, which reintroduced Aiden Pearce, the game’s original protagonist, the DLC for Watch Dogs will come to an end.
Watch Dogs has never been one of Ubisoft’s most popular open-world franchises. There is no doubt that these three games are not a complete failure, but they have failed to match beloved franchises such as The Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry series. “Play as anyone” mechanic in Watch Dogs: Legion’s “dystopian European” setting sold well, but the game received a mixed reception from both audiences and critics. A more sparse release schedule for the entire franchise, especially when compared to the recent shift from an annual to a biannual release schedule for Assassin’s Creed.
The future of Watch Dogs Legion was recently discussed by a Ubisoft spokesperson, according to Push Square. The statement begins by thanking the Legion community and Watch Dogs Legion for their support, before noting that the game’s most recent update will be it’s last. Seasons three through five of Watch Dogs: Legion’s multiplayer mode will be cycled through, allowing players to catch up on any content they may have missed. This seasonal model is similar to other smash hits like Warzone and Fortnite.
This may not come as a huge surprise to Ubisoft fans, given the company’s recent shift in strategy; the massive French developer appears to be putting a greater emphasis on loot-based, microtransaction-driven games, with plans to turn Assassin’s Creed into a live-service title. The in-game purchases in Watch Dogs Legion were certainly present but not as prevalent as in games like Ghost Recon: Wildlands or Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, both of which were released around the same time as Legion and have received far more extensive post-launch support than Legion. This could explain why Ubisoft is discontinuing support for the game, along with the fact that it has been less successful than some of Ubisoft’s other endeavours.
Without a doubt, Watch Dogs: Legion was ambitious in its approach and overall structure, even if it was not a perfect video game. Fans of the game’s more experimental design will be disappointed, as will those who believe that other Ubisoft franchises have become too safe and uncreative as a result of this news. Watch Dogs Legion may have been shut down, but only time will tell how it fits into the overall storey of the series and Ubisoft as a whole.