Watch Dogs: Legion Reveals Free Content Updates, Assassin's Creed Crossover, First DLC

Ubisoft has revealed its post-launch plans for the upcoming Watch Dogs: Legion ahead of its October 29 release date, and the first wave of content implements its online components as a free update. This will include cooperative modes and missions, as well as a PvP mode that will go live on December 3.

Online Multiplayer And Co-Op Missions Coming December 3

Players will be able to drop into futuristic London with up to four-player co-op and can roam the sandbox city or take on co-op-specific missions (with at least one other player) and dynamic events that happen in the open world. For those seeking a more challenging experience, the update will include Tactical ops, which seems to be more in-depth mode with missions that require four players and feature objectives that need to be completed in a more intricate fashion.

Legion's live producer Lathieeshe Thillainathan mentioned that while the overall online mode will be easy to jump into, Tactical Ops was an opportunity to increase the challenge in some capacity. "There are exciting moments, specific cinematics, new level architecture you'll see in this game mode that you won't see anywhere else in the game. But we've been balancing it very much to keep it challenging, but not at an extreme level," he said regarding the Tactical Ops mode.

Lastly, the PvP mode coming with this first update is called Spiderbot Arena, in which up to eight players control spiderbots strapped with guns in a deathmatch mode. Other PvP modes will come in the further updates, too.

Invasion Mode And More Content Is Coming Later

More online-specific content is planned for the future, including the return of the series' Invasion mode. This is the mode where you can drop into another player's instance to hunt them down and take their data. Thillainathan also mentioned how it has been tweaked for the new game's mechanics. "Invasion [got] a lot of reimagining because we wanted to incorporate play-as-anyone… Not only will you be able to use your team, but you can also instantly swap between anybody that you see in the open world to hide in plain sight," he said.

Future free updates will include new character types and single-player campaign missions as well as a new game plus mode, although details on this content is not yet available.

Cross-Gen, Cross-Save, And Cross-Progression

Thillainathan confirmed that progress made in Legion's online modes will be cross-gen and cross-platform, saying, "The online sandbox cross-progression is universal on any platform you play. Regardless if you're on PlayStation or PC, it'll go wherever you're playing." However, cross-progression for single-player content is tied to the same family of platforms--for example between PS4 and PS5, Xbox One and Series X/S, and PC and Stadia, but not between each other.

Bloodline: The First Paid DLC Pack And An Assassin's Creed Crossover

The first paid DLC (as part of a season pass) was also revealed alongside the details about the free updates. The DLC is called Bloodline and stars the original Watch Dogs protagonist Aiden Pearce who teams up with the Watch Dogs 2 character Wrench, both who are playable. Bloodline will cover what they've been up to since the previous games' stories and how they got involved with London's branch of DedSec for Legion's story. This DLC also features new progression tracks and abilities.

Two other new characters will be included in Bloodline, but won't be the focus of the story. You have Nina, who was the subject of horrible transhuman experiments, but has the ability to mind-control others. Then there's Darcy, who is a member of the Assassins brotherhood that's said to be a non-canonical crossover character, but will be a nod to Assassin's Creed in her capabilities and backstory.

In asking Thillainathan more about how they make the Watch Dogs and Assassin's Creed world's collide, he said, "We're not saying they're in the same canon or building something massive that way. It's just to really have fun and build a character that is heavily inspired by Assasssin's Creed." He mentioned that the team is dipping into the Assassin's Creed universe in other ways but had no further details to share.

More On Watch Dogs: Legion

So, to summarize the Watch Dogs: Legion roadmap, you can expect the following:

• Free update on December 3:
  • Online sandbox co-op for up to four players
  • Co-op missions (at least two players required)
  • Dynamic in-game events in online instances
  • Tactical Ops mode (four players required)
  • PvP mode Spiderbot Arena
• Future content in 2021
  • New character types and single-player missions
  • Invasion mode
  • More PvP modes
  • Season pass and the paid DLC called Bloodline

The Bloodline DLC doesn't have a release date yet, but is said to come sometime in 2021. For more on the game, be sure to read our latest preview about how character weaknesses in Watch Dogs: Legion make for more interesting gameplay challenges, or catch up on how Watch Dogs: Legion contextualizes is heavily political story about authoritarianism and revolt.