A remastering of the 2017 classic
If all my friends jumped off a bridge, I might too. Especially if it were the London Bridge.
Everyone’sreportingthatWatchDogs3issetinLondon. It’s a smaller story that’s attached to the revelation thatThe Division 2may have informally announced thatthe nextAssassin’s Creedis Viking-themed. The problem is that theWatch Dogsthing already was a story.
In February 2017, Ubisoft patched the ending ofWatch Dogs 2to include coordinates that pointed to Brixton, London. Every games site jumped on it 26 months ago, proclaiming thatWatch Dogs 3would take place in London —us included. It was a powerful little teaser, and Ubisoft has reliably used this sort of in-game hinting to drive intrigue for sequels and upcoming titles. It was almost certainly legitimate.
What’s weird about the 2019 flurry of news articles is that everyone acknowledges the 2017 story. It’s not like everyone forgot about the old thing and just carelessly rewrote it (which happens more than you’d think). It’s old information that’s being presented as old information.
There’s one small, tiny, minuscule addition to this year’s version of the story. InKotaku’sAssassin’s Creedreport, there’s a paragraph about Ubisoft’s past meta-teases. One sentence reads “A new patch forWatch Dogs 2also dropped a major clue forWatch Dogs 3, telling the world that it would be set in London (which it is).” That parenthetical is the basis for the “Watch Dogs 3will be set in London: 2019 Remix” headlines. It’s kind of flimsy! On one hand, Kotaku has a stellar track record of leaking details about major games, especially from Ubisoft. On the other hand, Kotaku usually does exhaustive reporting — not just a simple confirmation using the words “which it is.”
What are we doing here? I’m not really sure. Games writing can feel cyclical, and maybe this is happening because it’s about time we talked aboutWatch Dogsagain. Ubisoft is releasing four triple-A games before April 2020, and it’s a good bet thatWatch Dogs 3will be one of them. So here’s your reminder that the nextWatch Dogswill probably be set in London, just in case you forgot. Two years is a long time to remember stuff.
