Watch Dogs 2 has a new protagonist, new hacks, and a new setting

Watch Dogs 2 is officially official. You might've thought that months of leaks would mean developer/publisher Ubisoft wouldn't have much to show during its livestreamed reveal, but that definitely wasn't the case. In case you missed it, here's a recap of what we learned today:

Aiden Pearce's iconic mask and hat are iconic no more. Watch Dogs 2 has a new protagonist named Marcus Holloway, a young hacker accused of a crime he didn't commit. Well, at least that part will sound familiar to players of the original. Marcus has joined DedSec, an Anonymous-like hacker collective dedicating themselves to tearing down the corrupt establishment.

Gone too is the city of Chicago. Well, it's not gone - it still exists in the game's universe, but Watch Dogs 2 won't take place there. Instead, the setting has shifted to the sunny, sandy San Francisco Bay Area. The seaside metropolis has adopted ctOS 2.0, an updated version of the city-spanning software that Pearce hacked in the first Watch Dogs. Some people never learn, tsk tsk.

You'll also have some new toys to play with. Marcus wields a billiard ball attached to wrapped suspension cords. It sounds a little strange, but it also sounds like it would freaking hurt, and that's the main thing.

Marcus also has a small, ground-based "jumper" robot that he can send into dangerous areas, as well as a quadcopter drone to use for scouting. Or racing through colored hoops. Drone racing is all the rage these days, you know. There's also the ability to "mass hack" a crowd of people, rather than having to individually violate their privacy one-by-one. Yay, progress!

If you're wondering when you'll get to play with these toys, the answer is "not long." Watch Dogs 2 is set for a November 15, 2016 release date.

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