After three titles of vastly different quality, Ubisoft has allegedly quietly canceled theWatch Dogsseries. This series of futuristic open-world action-adventure games never quite found its audience, nor did Ubisoft ever figure out the perfect direction for it. The constant shifting of tone led to a very interesting but disconnected franchise, and none of the titles really made the impact the studio wanted. While it has not been officially canceled, rumors suggest thatWatch Dogshas been put on hiatus, but for some reason, its most important faction has not been.
At the June 2023 Ubisoft Forward, Ubisoft showed off two projects that will feature crossovers with its many franchises.Iconic franchises likeAssassin’s CreedandSplinter Cellare cropping up in these crossovers, but so is the hacker group DedSec from theWatch Dogsfranchise. Their series may have been quietly canceled, but the faction still has a future in Ubisoft’s upcoming slate. This puts the faction in line withSplinter Cell’s Sam Fisher and could very well be the only piece ofWatch Dogscontent that fans get for the foreseeable future.
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DedSec is Everywhere but Watch Dogs
DedSec has beena major part of theWatch Dogsseriessince its inception. It is one of the largest hacker groups actively fighting against ctOS, and every singleWatch Dogsprotagonist worked alongside them at some point. They recruited Aiden Pearce multiple times throughoutWatchDogs to retrieve data for them, Marcus Holloway became a vital member of DedSec inWatch Dogs 2, andWatch Dogs: Legiontasked players with rebuilding the London branch of DedSec after they were labeled a terrorist group. This series really would not exist without DedSec, but now the faction seems to be finding a home in other franchises.
Ubisoft has been working on its first-person arena shooterXDefiantfor a little while now and is finally gearing up for release. The game will bring together factions from across Ubisoft’s many franchises for an exciting new free-to-play crossover. These factions include the Libertad fromFar Cry,the Cleaners fromTom Clancy’s The Division, and the Echelon fromSplinter Cell.Members of DedSec will be joining themand bringing their hacking abilities to the battlefield. While they do not necessarily fit alongside characters from theTom Clancygames, they are still featured prominently inXDefiant.
Ubisoft also recently unveiled a brand-new Netflix anime calledCaptain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix. This show isinspired byFar Cry 3: Blood Dragonand will also see many of Ubisoft’s franchises crossover in a brand-new adventure. It looks like popular series likeAssassin’s Creedwill be making an appearance, and the trailer also briefly showed DedSec will be involved. While not much is known about the plot, it sounds like it will be filled with alternative Ubisoft characters and be a homage to the early 90s. DedSec may play a very small role, or it could be one of the most important factions in the story.
That makes two upcoming projects that DedSec will be a part of, andneither of them areWatch Dogsgames. There is a chance that even more projects involving the hacker group are on the horizon, but fans will just have to wait and see. It seems strange that Ubisoft would cancel the mainline series but still use the team in an assortment of projects, but it would hardly be the first time since Sam Fisher has also been relegated to this status. DedSec’s appearances hopefully mean that theWatch Dogs' franchise still has a future in Ubisoft’s upcoming lineup, but fans probably do not want to hold their breaths.
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