Watch Dogs: Legion's Permadeath Is Totally Optional

You can play as anyone you want in Watch Dogs: Legion, which launches on October 29 on PC, Playstation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One. Whoever you play as can die permanently, though. While that sounds discouraging, especially if you get attached to a specific character, Ubisoft has confirmed that permadeath is not a requirement.

In a Reddit AMA, creative director Clint Hocking responded to someone asking about how permadeath works when selecting a difficulty setting. The short answer is permadeath is optional.

"Difficulty and Permadeath are separate options," Hocking said. "You can play in Easy, Normal, or Hard, and you can play with Permadeath on or off in any difficulty."

Additionally, Hocking stated permadeath won't carry over to multiplayer and confirmed more details about the mode are coming soon.

"Permadeath is an option in the main game," Hocking said. "However it's not part of Multiplayer because we found very early that there was too much potential for griefing and randomness that didn't add to the fun of the game. We'll talk more about MP soon."

Hocking further reiterated that permadeath in Watch Dogs: Legion's main campaign is optional, something you can toggle on and off at will. You can play as one character throughout the entirety of the campaign, unless the mission requires someone specific.

"Permadeath is an option in the main game, so you do not have to play with Permadeath on," Hocking said. "Either way, you can choose to use one character throughout the game--as long as they are not arrested or hospitalized (or killed), you can stick with the same character throughout--except for a couple of instances where you might need someone specific."

There are other notable responses in the AMA as well. In particular, one person asked about the politics of the Watch Dogs franchise (and of Legion specifically). Hocking said the series has "always been about holding those in power accountable" and Legion follows the same trajectory.

In other Watch Dogs: Legion news, it has been confirmed that NPCs in the game will follow a set schedule. With an upgraded profiling ability you can unlock, you will be able to view an NPC's schedule. This gives you more control over how and when you decide to recruit someone to your hacker squad.

In addition to PC, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One, Watch Dogs: Legion will launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X this holiday. You can check out our Watch Dogs: Legion pre-order guide to learn about the bonuses and editions available before it drops this October. If you're on PlayStation, you will receive a physical disc in the collector's edition. However, Xbox players will receive a digital download, and both consoles support cross-buy on the next-gen systems.