During this evening’s Ubisoft Forward, the publisher opened the livestream with a special cinematic trailer for Watch Dogs: Legion, before confirming its release date. The short is a stylized romp through London, and it was spearheaded by Albert Mielgo, an Emmy award-winning animator who’s worked on Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, Tron: Uprising, and Corpse Bride.
The visual style of the piece, dubbed ‘Tipping Point’, is similar to an episode of Netflix’s sci-fi animated anthology Love, Death & Robots, that Mielgo directed. In ‘Tipping Point’, a member of DedSec, the group of insurgent hackers that form the protagonists of the series, is targeted for being the sole culprit in a series of what’s been labelled as terrorist activity.
Thus, the vigilante is on the run, and we get a bright, shiny tour of the near future London, still full of double-decker buses and taxis. Much of the emphasis is on drones, as the lead rides one like a hover-board around the high streets, as well as showing the London Underground, which looks a good deal cleaner than usual.
We got a hands on of Watch Dogs: Legion, and our Richard Scott-Jones was impressed with what he saw. You can see Alberto Mielgo’s cinematic trailer below:
Aside from the games, it’s impossible to ignore what’s been going on with Ubisoft more broadly right now – in the wake of unrest from within the company as a result of reported sexual harassment and misconduct over the years, a number of Ubisoft executives have resigned or been replaced. The company says today’s show has been pre-recorded, and will not address these issues in any capacity.
You can read our round-up of all the Ubisoft Forward news here, including updates on Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and Far Cry 6. Watch Dogs: Legion comes out October 29.