Watch Dogs 2 Info - Everything You Need to Know

November seems to certainly be the month of sequels. First Dishonored 2, now Watch Dogs 2. Both also happen to be from two of the biggest gaming publishers, Bethesda and Ubisoft. Ubisoft has a lot riding on Watch Dogs 2, especially since their usual November cash cow (Assassin’s Creed) is on hiatus this year. What they have shown so far has some promise, especially since they continually emphasize that they have learned their lesson from the first game. So what can you expect from Watch Dogs 2? Here’s everything you need to know before release:

Watch Dogs 2 will release on the PlayStation 4 on November 15, 2016. We shall see if it can indeed fill in that gap that Assassin’s Creed has left open. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if many fill that void with Dishonored 2.

Are you picking it up on launch day?

Essential Reading:

Watch Dogs 2 Info Dump

Watch Dogs 2 – Everything You Need to Know
Watch Dogs Sequel Announced to Release in 4QFY

Ubisoft technically announced Watch Dogs 2 in their financial report for the third quarter of 2015. They slipped it in with their projections for the following fiscal year, saying that their line-up will include For Honor, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, Ghost Recon: Wildlands, and "the next Watch Dogs." The official official announcement didn't really come until E3 2016, but Ubisoft talked about the title ahead of time a teensy bit.
Mo-Cap Actor Leaked Protagonist Online

Before anyone heard a peep about Watch Dogs 2 other than the fact it was a thing, the mo-cap actor for the protagonist posted an image of his character on Instagram. The image was since pulled very quickly, but the Internet was abuzz for a few days pondering the identity of this new protagonist. Most everyone was fairly excited that Aiden would not return.
Ubisoft Promises a New Tone for Watch Dogs 2

Still before E3 and still before any "official" news, Ubisoft Yves Guillemot spoke a bit about the title. He said that not only would it be Ubisoft's "biggest game of the year," but it would have a new tone from the first game.

Our biggest title will be Watch Dogs, which will build on the success of the first game. It has been one of Ubisoft’s best selling games of all times. The game will once again surprise players with a new tone and innovative hacking gameplay possibilities.
Watch Dogs 2 Release Date Set November 15, 2016

Ubisoft just can't keep a secret for any official announcements. They were going to announce the Watch Dogs 2 release date at E3, but a leaked ad jumped the gun on them. It releases November 15, 2016, well before the projected fourth quarter release window for the fiscal year.
Watch Dogs 2 Collector's Edition
In addition to the plain Jane game, Watch Dogs 2 will have two other special editions up for purchase:
- Deluxe Edition ($69.99 USD) – Includes Watch Dogs 2 base game + two Deluxe Packs full of valuable extra content. Deluxe Packs include premium customization items to personalize your character, weapons, vehicles, drones and more.
- Gold Edition ($99.99 USD) – Gold Edition includes the base game + Deluxe Packs + Season Pass.
- Collector's Edition ($109.99 - $149.99) - CE includes any of the three editions above (which affects price) and an app-controlled Wrench Junior robot.
Watch Dogs 2 DLC PS4 Exclusive for 30 Days

Good news for PlayStation fans! All post-launch DLC for Watch Dogs 2 will be PS4-exclusive for 30 days. If getting your hands on the new DLC right when it happens is important to you, then you know which platform to purchase it on. Of course, if you read this site, you already have the PS4 as your platform-of-choice.
Watch Dogs 2 E3 Hands-on Preview

We did indeed get our hands on Watch Dogs 2 while at E3, and Paulmichael Contreras was the lucky dog who got his paws on it first. His experience, albeit a short one, was fairly positive. Check out his full preview here.
Can Finish Watch Dogs 2 Without Touching Story

No story? No problem! Unlike Ubisoft's typical games, Watch Dogs 2 doesn't have any "towers" for the player to unlock in order to progress. The game is all about exploration, and pieces unlock as you explore and gain virtual followers.

Creative Director Jonathan Morin explained:

Players start with a few followers in [hacker group] DedSec but pretty soon you realize you’re going to need more if you want to pull off big operations. So you start free-roaming.

Every time you get followers, it’s like you’re unlocking the DedSec hivemind. You’re also unlocking new knowledge, new operations, new co-op missions. And then organically you hit those end-game milestones.
New Ways to Hack Along With More Player Freedom

Game Director Danny Belanger said that Watch Dogs 2 offers even more ways to hack as well as gives players more freedom with the various play styles available to them.

The player has the freedom to play the way they want. We’re using three playstyles to talk about the game. The combat hacker — who is more proactive and uses hacks to take down people. There’s the ghost hacker — they can use hacks to distract and make noises. And then there’s the trickster hacker. They can finish a whole mission without actually physically being there.
AR Games Out, Seamless Co-Op In

Ubisoft has said on more than one occasion that they have learned their lesson from the first Watch Dogs title. For starters, there will not be any AR (augmented reality) games in the sequel. Instead, they are bringing in seamless co-op, so friends and strangers can drop in and out of games whenever they wish.
Will Address Criticisms of Original Game

The AR games aren't the only poor element of the first game that Ubisoft is addressing in the sequel. Ubisoft Europe boss, Alain Corre, explained in an interview that the team is well aware of the issues players had before, and they have improved Watch Dogs 2 accordingly.

We’ve heard what our fans were saying, and we think we have ticked all the boxes to improve everything they wanted, plus we have brought some new innovation. The new character Marcus is very charismatic. You can hack anything you want and it is now twice as big as the previous one. It is also super colorful and nice to look at. More than 80 per cent of the original Watch Dogs players say they want to explore Watch Dogs 2, plus we will appeal to new fans.
Why There's a New Protagonist

When Creative Director Jonathan Morin visited San Francisco, the new locale for Watch Dogs 2, it didn't take him long to see that Aiden Pearce would not have fit in this environment. Instead of a dark, broody, and vengeful character, they needed a younger and less angry protagonist to take on Silicon Valley. Since the game is also about social media surveillance, it definitely needed someone who is more "hip and with it" than Aiden Pearce.
Marcus and Friends Trailer

As you've probably gathered, Marcus isn't taking on ctOS alone. He has a group of hacktivist friends as part of Deadsec. In July of this year, Ubisoft released a character trailer introducing Wrench, Sitara, and Josh.
Hacker Culture Trailer

As yet another stark contrast to the first game, the Deadsec's goal is to share information with the public that only they and fellow hacktivists are able to access. The dev team even reached out to the hacker community for assistance to keep their representation real, honest, and respectful. Their trailer detailing the hacker culture in Watch Dogs 2 can be found here.
Multiplayer Modes
Two multiplayer modes will be available in Watch Dogs 2:
- Bounty Hunter - If one player creates too much heat in single-player campaign, the police can call in for Bounty Hunter assistance. Up to three other players can then jump in and hunt down the target.
- Hacking Invasion - This is a player-vs-player mode, separate from the single-player campaign. The goal is to download data from a target player without being detected.
Either of these modes can be played co-operatively.
Won't Have to Shoot or Kill Anyone

If you prefer to take the pacifist route in games, it's 100% possible to finish Watch Dogs 2 without killing anyone. "It was important to us that players are free in the style they want to play. So play stealth, play non-lethal, play guns blazing, explosive and guns, or play full hacking. It’s up to you to decide how you’re going to play," Senior Producer Dominic Guay has said.
19 Minutes of Gameplay With Multiplayer and Free Roaming

At gamescom 2016, Ubisoft showed 19 minutes of gameplay of the alpha build on PlayStation 4. This gameplay video includes the multiplayer component as well as how much of the game is truly about free roaming and exploration.
Watch Dogs 2 PS4 Slim Bundle

Europe has a PS4 Slim Bundle that includes Watch Dogs and Watch Dogs 2. Unlike other bundles, however, this one does not have a unique Watch Dogs-themed console. North American does not have this bundle.
Will Have PS4 Pro Support Day One

Since the PS4 Pro released before Watch Dogs 2, the game will have PS4 Pro support right out of the box on launch day. PS4 Pro support includes enhanced visuals, better frame-rate, HDR10 support, or increased resolution.
Watch Dogs 2 Story Trailer

Other than the fact that hacking is fun, what is the point to Watch Dogs 2? The story trailer explains that Marcus joins Deadsec after being wrongfully accused of crimes due to racial profiling. Deadsec has pinned Blume as the culprit, more specifically, Blume's CTO, Dušan Nemec.
Ubisoft Event Hands-on Preview

Tyler Treese was able to play Watch Dogs 2 for over six hours at an Ubisoft event, and he raved how well the developer portrayed San Francisco. He went as far as to say that "the Bay Area is Watch Dogs 2's best character." He enjoyed simply roaming the world and watching the random interactions take place. Sometimes he would get involved, other times he let them play out. He did comment that the combat is rather clunky, and some of the controls are complicated for "heat of the moment" hacks. His full preview can be read here.
Open World Gameplay Trailer

How open is the open world of Watch Dogs 2? A brief trailer from Ubisoft presents the open-world "playground" of San Francisco.
Season Pass Includes Extra Single-Player Content and New Co-Op Mode
Ubisoft has quite a bit of Season Pass content planned, including the following story content and new mode:
- T-Bone Content Bundle (December 13) – Players will get the style and the swagger of legendary hacker Raymond “T-Bone” Kenney with his truck and outfit, and they’ll discover Mayhem — a new co-op difficulty level that will pit players against a new enemy archetype armed with advanced weaponry.
- Human Conditions (Spring 2017) – Through several hours of additional mission content in three new world stories, players will uncover San Francisco’s biggest scandals on the cutting edge of science, medicine, and misuse. In Human Conditions, players will also experience new elite co-op missions and face a new enemy type: Jammer, with the technology to hunt players down.
- No Compromise (Spring 2017) – Players will experience an all-new world story which mixes Marcus up in the seedy underbelly of San Francisco and puts him in the crosshairs of the Russian mafia. Also includes a new co-op mode: Showd0wn, where only the best players survive.
Those who purchase the Season Pass on day one or pre-order it will also receive the following in-game packs:
- Root Access Bundle - full sets of outfits, new cars, a drone skin, a new weapon, and the Zodiac Killer mission.
- Psychedelic Pack (this winter) - customize Marcus’s outfit, weapon, drone, and car in the "grooviest style"
The Season Pass is available at $39.99 or part of the Gold Edition bundle, which costs $99.99 for game, Deluxe Edition goodies, and the Season Pass.
San Francisco Trailer

As Tyler mentioned in his preview, San Francisco is practically a living, breathing entity of its own in Watch Dogs 2. Game Director Danny Belanger said that was exactly their goal with the environment.

It’s really important at first to create a city that feels alive. We speak a lot in Watch Dogs 2 about the world being a simulation and that’s really the fundamental aspect of it. We wanted the world to be non-player essential, meaning it will live without you being there. And once you go there, it’s a place to discover, live in, and play.

See how in Ubisoft's "Living World of San Francisco" trailer.
Launch Trailer Shows Action

The week before launch, Ubisoft released their launch trailer for Watch Dogs 2. This trailer, unlike the others, highlights the action of the game above all else.
Ubisoft Promises Watch Dogs 2 Will Make Up for Lack of Assassin's Creed

In case you hadn't heard, there isn't going to be an Assassin's Creed in 2016. Ubisoft has had an AC title every year since 2009, but they promise that Watch Dogs 2 will make up for the missing Creed. UK Sales Director Darren Bowe explained:

Assassin’s Creed has been a fantastic seller for Ubisoft and really important to the market every year, but make no mistake, Watch Dogs 2 will certainly fill the gap this year. We are very fortunate to have such a strong and varied line-up so we don’t have to rely just one franchise. Following Watch Dogs 2, we also have Steep launching at the start of December along with strong back catalog sales on Tom Clancy’s The Division and Far Cry Primal which have been two of the biggest launches so far this year.
New Gameplay Trailer Includes Watch Dogs 2's Map Size

Do you have time for 40 minutes of Watch Dogs 2 gameplay? If so, bookmark this video that released over the weekend. They said the sequel would be far larger than the original's, and they were not kidding. The other video in that same post is 30 minutes of simply going through the entire map.
PlayStation Store Pre-Order Bonuses

If you're looking to get the digital copy of the game from the PlayStation Store, here are their pre-order incentives:

Pre-order and receive a bonus after checking out:
- Watch_Dogs 2 Theme

Pre-order and receive a bonus after checking out:
- Watch_Dogs 2 Theme

[Pre-Order Bonus:
- Zodiac Killer Mission and Outfit

PlayStation Store Pre-Order Exclusives:
- San Bruno Radio Tower Co-Op Location and Engineer Outfit
- Bonus ScoutXpedition Activity

PlayStation Store Plus Members Pre-Order Exclusive:
- Bitflip Suit Outfit]
Clear 24.8GB of Space for Watch Dogs 2

Not counting any of the Season Pass content, Deluxe Edition content, and pre-order incentives the PlayStation Store has to offer, Watch Dogs 2 will require 24.8GB of space.