Watch Dogs: Legion lets you recruit people from London’s population and play as them, rather than follow one fixed protagonist. Profile a potential recruit, review their abilities and attitude toward DedSec, and complete their recruitment mission; once they join, you can switch to them when their skills suit your approach.
How does Play as Anyone work?
The system links a simulated population to the game’s recruitment and operative mechanics. Ubisoft describes Census as the procedural foundation that generates characters, creates their social profiles, and simulates schedules and relationships across London. Potential operatives are therefore presented as people with backgrounds and connections, not simply as a menu of predefined classes. GDC Vault’s Census session overview describes the system’s role in generating individuals and schedules.
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After recruiting someone, you can take control of that character as a DedSec operative. There is no single fixed player protagonist, so the person you control can change as you play. Ubisoft Toronto’s development post discusses the systems behind a London populated with potentially playable characters.
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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →How do you recruit operatives?
- Find someone in the open world. Notice a person whose background, equipment, or potential abilities might suit your needs.
- Profile them. Inspect their character profile for abilities and their opinion of DedSec. A poor opinion can mean you need to improve it before making an offer.
- Take on their recruitment task. Complete the mission connected to that candidate to win them over.
- Choose them for a suitable situation. Once recruited, switch to the operative when their abilities fit the mission or approach you have in mind.
Ubisoft describes every character as a potential questline, but that does not mean all candidates are equally easy to recruit or that an occupation always produces one fixed set of abilities. The system combines properties in different ways. Ubisoft’s E3 2019 overview explains the profiling and recruitment loop.
#1 Best Overall
- Open-world London, explore a massive urban open-world where you can visit London's many famous landmarks
- play as anyone, experience a never-seen-before gameplay Innovation. Anyone you see can join your team complete with a unique backstory, personality, and skill set
- weaponise London's Tech infrastructure. Hijack armed combat drones, deploy stealthy spider-bots, covertly take down enemies using an augmented reality cloak, and much more
- bring your team online and join forces with up to three friends and explore the world together or take on entirely new co-op missions
What makes one operative different from another?
Abilities are assembled from reusable properties and can reflect a character’s background or visible role. Creative director Clint Hocking gave examples such as a construction worker with a wrench and nail gun, a reporter with a news drone, and a character combining a guitar, quiet footsteps, and a silent pistol. These examples illustrate variation; they are not a universal occupation-to-build chart. Hocking’s interview describes the design approach.
When choosing between candidates, compare the abilities that matter for the job rather than relying on a label or occupation alone:
Rank #2
- Recruit and play as anyone from London. Everyone you see has a unique backstory, personality, and skill set for unique situations
- Hack armed drones, Deploy spider-bots, and take down enemies using an augmented reality Cloak
- Explore a massive urban open world featuring London's many iconic landmarks and fun side activities
- Team up with your friends for new missions in co-op mode, releasing as a free update post-launch
- Upgrade to the Gold Edition or ultimate Edition for access to the Season Pass and more
- Access: Does the operative’s role or disguise help with a particular location or approach?
- Stealth and combat: What weapons, movement advantages, or other tools do they bring?
- Devices and mobility: Do they have useful vehicles or remotely controlled equipment?
- Team support: Does an ability benefit other DedSec members?
- Risks: Could a drawback increase the chance of arrest, injury, or death?
Ubisoft’s 2019 overview gives illustrative examples: an amateur boxer with 50% more melee damage, a doctor whose team-wide benefit reduces healing time by 25%, and a character with 100% more damage who may also die randomly. These are specific examples from that pre-release overview, not a complete or current list of traits or a guarantee that every character with a similar background has the same properties. The overview also describes a street performer example with 40% more headshot damage.
How does the story work without one protagonist?
The game avoids assuming that the currently controlled operative has one fixed biography. Ubisoft narrative designer Brendan Hennessy said dialogue was written in 20 versions tied to character personas and recorded by 20 voice actors. That system lets conversations respond to the type of character being played, while the central plot remains anchored by authored allies, villains, and their motivations. Ubisoft’s account of the narrative design explains how the team handled dialogue for a changing cast.
Rank #3
- Freedom and Consequences - Play the game the way you want. A brand-new melee system and a wide range of weapons and abilities means that the way you approach combat has real consequences.
- Customize Your Recruits - Personalize each member of your resistance and level them up by building out different skill sets, from hacking to stealth moves to all-out assault training. Customize further with unique outfits and iconic masks.
- Play As Anyone - Recruit anyone from the entire population of London into your resistance: from an MI6 agent to a tough bareknuckle fighter, or an inconspicuous old lady… Anyone you see can join your team and has a unique backstory, personality, and skillset.
- Team Up with Friends - Bring your team online with up to three friends as you freely explore the world together or take on entirely new co-op missions and challenging end-game content. Enjoy free regular updates adding new online modes, rewards, and themed events.
- Open World London - Explore a massive urban open world and visit London’s many famous landmarks – including Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, or the London Eye – and engage in side activities like bareknuckle boxing, freestyle football, illegal courier contracts or street art.
Recruitment missions provide self-contained context for individual characters. They do not develop each operative’s past into a continuing authored personal arc; the broader story instead follows DedSec’s opposition to the antagonist’s agenda. Character profiles can add context to otherwise similar dialogue, but the plot does not depend on one recruit becoming the sole hero.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What does permadeath change?
Permadeath is an optional mode that raises the consequences of losing an operative: characters can be permanently killed, and losing the entire team can cause a game over, according to Hocking. Separately, some characters can have a disclosed sudden-death trait even outside permadeath mode; their profiles show that trait before recruitment. Hocking’s interview describes these rules. Ubisoft’s Permadeath support page identifies the mode as an additional challenge.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- Free to add the people you encounter on virtual and organize resistance and get back to London in the near future, facing the crisis of collapse by hacking, intrusion, and combat Now it's time to gather with resistance
- Whoever met in the city can be played as part of their companion, and each has a backstory, personality and skill set
- Hack your armed drone, unfold the Spider Bot and eliminate your enemies while concealing them with the AR Cloak
- Explore the open world recreating the huge city, and enjoy the countless landmarks and fun side activities
- Invite new members online, collaborate with friends to make missions and challenge challenging end game content
Rank #4
- Recruit and play as anyone from London. Everyone you see has a unique backstory, personality, and skill set for unique situations
- Hack armed drones, Deploy spider-bots, and take down enemies using an augmented reality Cloak
- International products have separate terms, are sold from abroad and may differ from local products, including fit, age ratings, and language of product, labeling or instructions.
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