Report: Ubisoft Taps Kaspersky for 'Watch Dogs' Hacker Cred

Report: Ubisoft Taps Kaspersky for 'Watch Dogs' Hacker Cred

Ubisoft Montreal really wants players to feel like they're actually exploiting interconnected computer networks in the upcoming third-person action game Watch Dogs. So the studio hired an expert.

Joystiq reported that Watch Dogs developers are collaborating with what producer Dominic Guay called "really hardcore experts" - security firm Kaspersky Lab.

"We send them some of our designs and we ask them feedback on it, and it's interesting to see what gets back," Guay told Joystiq. "Sometimes they say, 'Yeah, that's possible, but change that word,' or, 'That's not the way it works.'"

Kaspersky Lab did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment.

Watch Dogs was introduced at last year's E3 gaming expo, showing off protagonist Aiden Pearce, a vigilante hacker/former criminal living in a futuristic Chicago, where technology is run by a sort of matrix of interconnected computers, or "smart cities."

"You will be able to monitor and hack all who surround you while manipulating the city's systems to stop traffic lights, detonate gas lines, turn off the electrical grid and more," the Ubisoft website said.

Guay compared Watch Dogs's action to Ubisoft Montreal's flagship series Assassin's Creed, which provided more limited movement and fewer player-controlled options. In the game, Pearce can attempt an escape by hacking a traffic light in hopes of causing an accident and a distraction.

"It's not about the minigame that will let me open the door, it's the fact that I'm making a plan," Guay told Joystiq. "I'm making a plan of how I'm going to chain hacking, shooting, traveling the city and driving to achieve an objective."

The partnership with Kaspersky Lab aims to make Pearce's decisions more realistic, a little closer to what a real hacker might do, rather than Hollywood's interpretation.

The game is set for a Nov. 19 release on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U, and PC; it is available now for pre-order for $59.99 from Ubisoft, Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, and Walmart.

Take a look at Watch Dogs in the trailer video below.