Ubisoft details Watch Dogs multiplayer

Ubisoft has lifted the lid off the multiplayer component of its upcoming open-world game Watch Dogs, detailing the Dark Souls-meets-Assassin's Creed multiplayer.

Multiplayer is not a separate mode in Watch Dogs and revolves around attempts to plant viruses on the phones of other players as they roam around their single-player game. A percentage bar appears onscreen while a player is being hacked, and this triggers a mission where the victim must track down his assailant before the virus is successfully planted. These hacking attempts can be defeated by either tracking down or killing the attacker.

All players--both the hacker and the target--see themselves as Watch Dogs protagonist Aiden Pierce, with the other player appearing as a generic in-game non-player character. Successful hackers need to blend into the world and remain incognito, Ubisoft adds, in a way reminiscent of the multiplayer seen in the Assassin's Creed series.

It will also be possible to use Watch Dogs' multiplayer to just watch other players, or grief and assist other players as they roam the environment--run vehicles off the road during a chase, for instance.

Ubisoft has yet to determine how exactly successful hackers will be rewarded for successful infiltration, but says that players become more notorious and susceptible to being hacked themselves the more times they plant viruses on others.

Ubisoft also adds that players can opt out of Watch Dogs' multiplayer modes if they wish, though all players will find themselves hacked once as part of the campaign. Watch Dogs also switches multiplayer off during its main and side missions.

Watch Dogs will be released on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, and Wii U on November 19. Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions will follow in 2013.