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What is Watch Dogs about?
The series imagines cities where networks and infrastructure can be hacked—and where access to personal data can be used to monitor or manipulate people. Across the games, hackers and the activist collective DedSec push back against systems of surveillance and control. Ubisoft describes the franchise as having reached more than 40 million players worldwide; its franchise page does not date that figure, so it should not be read as a current count.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
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Watch Dogs Legion - PlayStation 4 Standard Edition | $9.40 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Watch Dogs | $28.95 | Buy on Amazon |
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Watch Dogs xbox one | $9.49 | Buy on Amazon |
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Watch Dogs 2 - PlayStation 4 | $23.11 | Buy on Amazon |
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Watch Dogs Legion (PS5) | $22.75 | Buy on Amazon |
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The games share themes and some characters, but each has its own setting and lead. Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs franchise page and official game pages outline the series and its entries.
What order should I play the Watch Dogs games in?
For the clearest introduction to the characters and recurring connections, play the main games in release order:
#1 Best Overall
- 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 as you complete co-op missions and unique game modes
- Upgrade to the Gold Edition or Ultimate Edition for access to the season pass and more
- Watch Dogs — meet Aiden Pearce and the series’ connected-city hacking premise.
- Watch Dogs 2 — follow Marcus Holloway and DedSec, and meet Wrench, who returns in Bloodline.
- Watch Dogs: Legion — move to London and experience its recruit-and-play-as-anyone approach.
You do not have to finish the earlier games to understand Legion’s main premise: it has a new setting and a distinct resistance story. Release order is a recommendation for context, not a requirement.
What is each Watch Dogs game about?
| Game | Release date | Story and setting | Listed platforms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watch Dogs | May 27, 2014 | Aiden Pearce, a hacker and former thug, pursues revenge after a family tragedy in Chicago, using access to connected city systems. | PC, PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360 |
| Watch Dogs 2 | November 13, 2016 | Marcus Holloway joins DedSec in the San Francisco Bay Area to target ctOS 2.0, a system Ubisoft describes as being used to monitor and manipulate citizens. | PC, PS4, Xbox One |
| Watch Dogs: Legion | October 28, 2020, according to Ubisoft’s product page | In near-future London, rebuild DedSec after a catastrophic attack and resist the forces controlling the city. Its “Play as Anyone” system lets you recruit and play as people encountered there. | PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One |
These platform lists come from Ubisoft’s official Watch Dogs, Watch Dogs 2, and Watch Dogs: Legion pages. They are not a guarantee that every version is currently sold or available in every region; check the relevant platform store for its present listing.
Rank #2
- HACK THE CITY: Control the city's infrastructure, in real time, with Aiden's cell phone; Trap your enemy in a 30 car pileup by manipulating the traffic lights; Stop a train, and then board it to evade the authorities; Narrowly escape capture by quickly raising a drawbridge; Anything connected to the city's CTOS can become your weapon
- SEAMLESS MULTIPLAYER EXPERIENCE: Discover a new level of interaction, cooperation and confrontation between players thanks to a brand new multiplayer game system that links the single and multiplayer modes into one seamless experience; That means no menus, no loading screens, just instant open world multiplayer action
- DYNAMIC NAVIGATION: Watch Dogs gives you the ability to not only use the city's ctOS to your advantage, but the streets as well; In real world Chicago, cut through one of the buildings or climb to the rooftops to catch your target
- HIGH OCTANE DRIVING: Get behind the wheel of more than 65 vehicles bursting with horsepower to explore the massive city while completing missions; Ubisoft Montreal partnered with Ubisoft Reflections, the acclaimed studio behind the award winning Driver series to develop each vehicle with state of art physics and handling
How is Legion different from the first two games?
The first two games center on named protagonists: Aiden in the original and Marcus in the sequel. Legion shifts the playable-character structure. Rather than relying on one fixed lead, you recruit people across London and play as members of that roster. That makes the resistance itself—and the characters you choose to recruit—the center of its premise.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallUbisoft narrative designer Brendan Hennessy described the writing challenge in an interview about telling a story without a main character: “We didn’t have a static script – we had a dynamic script with 20 different variations.” Hennessy also explained that dialogue had to account for characters who “only live in the moment.” Those are the designer’s descriptions of the system and its tradeoffs, rather than an independent evaluation of how every player will experience the story.
Rank #3
- HACK THE CITY: Control the city's infrastructure, in real time, with Aiden's cell phone. Trap your enemy in a 30-car pileup by manipulating the traffic lights. Stop a train, and then board it to evade the authorities. Narrowly escape capture by quickly raising a drawbridge. Anything connected to the city's CTOS can become your weapon.
- SEAMLESS MULTIPLAYER EXPERIENCE: Discover a new level of interaction, cooperation and confrontation between players thanks to a brand new multiplayer game system that links the single and multiplayer modes into one seamless experience. That means no menus, no loading screens, just instant open world multiplayer action.
- DYNAMIC NAVIGATION: Watch_Dogs gives you the ability to not only use the city's ctOS to your advantage, but the streets as well. In real-world Chicago, cut through one of the buildings or climb to the rooftops to catch your target.
- HIGH OCTANE DRIVING: Get behind the wheel of more than 65 vehicles bursting with horsepower to explore the massive city while completing missions. Ubisoft Montreal partnered with Ubisoft Reflections, the acclaimed studio behind the award-winning Driver series to develop each vehicle with state-of-art physics and handling.
Where does Bloodline fit in the Watch Dogs timeline?
Watch Dogs: Legion – Bloodline is an optional story expansion set before the events of Legion. Ubisoft’s Bloodline story announcement describes Aiden arriving in London to steal a robot-controlling device from Broca Tech. Wrench’s intervention puts Aiden’s nephew Jackson at risk, and both Aiden and Wrench are playable.
For a simple, release-oriented route, play Bloodline after the Legion main campaign. For in-universe chronology, play it before that campaign—but after Watch Dogs and Watch Dogs 2 if you want the context for Aiden and Wrench. Ubisoft’s expansion announcement also describes it as a prequel to Legion. The Season Pass bundled additional content; what is included and available can vary by platform, region, and edition, so check the current store listing.
Rank #4
- PLAYSTATION EXCLUSIVE Play future Mission Packs 30 days early on the PlayStation4
- EXPLORE THE MASSIVE AND DYNAMIC OPEN WORLD OF SAN FRANSISCO BAY Experience an incredible variety of game play possibilities in the winding streets of San Francisco, the vibrant neighborhoods of Oakland, and cutting edge Silicon Valley
- HACK EVERYTHING Every person, vehicle and connected device can be hacked. Take control of drones, cars, cranes, and more to use them as your weapon
- CONNECT WITH FRIENDS Play Co op and Player vs. Player activities in a seamless shared world
- YOU ARE IN CTRL Develop your skills and combine hacking, weapons and stealth to complete missions in ways that suit your playstyle
Which Watch Dogs game should you start with?
- Start with Watch Dogs if you want a fixed protagonist and a personal revenge story in Chicago.
- Start with Watch Dogs 2 if Marcus, DedSec, and the San Francisco Bay Area setting are the most appealing starting point; it is the second main game, but the series’ distinct leads and settings make it possible to follow on its own.
- Start with Legion if its London setting and recruitable cast are what interest you most. Earlier games add character context, but are not presented by Ubisoft as prerequisites for its main premise.
For a first run through the series as a whole, release order remains the most straightforward way to encounter the recurring characters and ideas. If you are choosing by platform, confirm the individual game’s listing for your region: Ubisoft’s catalog differs by title, and a platform available for one entry may not be listed for another.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- 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
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
