Our first Online Event weekend will take place January 13th-15th, giving you a chance to play a temporarily altered multiplayer experience and get a boost in the Leaderboards! Online Events will continue to happen regularly, changing various aspects of a multiplayer experience for a weekend, and rewarding you for participating.
In our first Online Event, “Survival Bounties”, vehicle health for bounty targets will be reduced in Bounty Hunter gameplay. This means that there’s very little chance for escape and your objective as the target will be to fend off as many cops and bounty hunters as you can for a big bonus. Get out of your cars and get out of the open as soon as possible once a bounty is placed on you.
Bounty targets will receive a 50% leaderboard point boost for participating, and bounty hunters will receive a 25% boost.
Leaderboard Season 3 rewards currently up for grabs
Survival Bounties will change the following Bounty Hunter parameters for this weekend only:*
*Players will have to relaunch the game in order to have the settings of the Survival Bounties event applied to their game on Friday.
So hit the streets of San Francisco, hackers, and cause some mayhem!
- Watch_Dogs 2 Community Team
* Please note that there is no “opt-in” mechanic for these events. Anyone playing online will experience the effects of these tweaks. If you’d prefer to not have these mechanics tweaked, simply disable the corresponding online mode for that period of time. However, these effects only last for a weekend (Friday - Sunday), so it’s worth giving it a try! *
Patch Notes: Title Update 1.09
Today we’ll be releasing a small patch on PlayStation 4, which will also be available on Xbox One and PC later in the coming days. The purpose of Title Update 1.09 is mainly to prepare the game for some upcoming updates, but also includes several stabilization, performance and bug fixes. Here are two items in this patch you should be aware of:
<*>YourBoySerge Nerf – This .50 Cal sniper rifle has been the subject of some debate in the community, and is considered to be overpowered in online play. In this patch, we’ve reduced the number of rounds in the magazine from 6 to 1, and we will continue to monitor and balance this beasty rifle.
<*>World Map/Online Invasion Exploit – Fixed an issue where players could help detect the presence of an invader in their session using an exploit with the World Map.
Watch Dogs 2 – Tips and Tricks for PC Optimization
Our community has plenty of tips on how to get the best Watch_Dogs 2 experience out of your PC. Here’s a curated list of some of the best tips from our users:
And lastly, here’s a quick look at the minimum and preferred PC specifications for Watch_Dogs 2.
The T-Bone Chaos Challenge is upon us! Starting today, December 19th, the community team has planned some exciting in-game challenges where players will be able to earn unique rewards like a new car and a bag skin for Marcus.
How does it work? Every week, for four weeks, players will be able to take part in a T-Bone themed challenge to earn rewards like in-game cash, a car skin and a bag skin. Each challenge takes place from Monday to Sunday and everyone can participate to earn these rewards - it’s totally free. The first challenge takes place from now until Sunday, December 25th – and the reward is a sweet T-Bone inspired car skin that would make Ray Kenney proud.
These challenges use the same Ubisoft Club challenges system, only thing different is that these challenges are themed around the T-Bone Content Bundle DLC releasing on Dec 22nd on PS4 and January 24th on Xbox One and PC.
Here is the schedule for the T-Bone Chaos Challenges and their associated rewards:
Be sure to share your best gameplay moments on Twitter by tweeting us (@watchdogsgame) and also sharing them on Reddit (reddit.com/r/watch_dogs). We want to see some epic videos and screenshots coming out of these challenges. Who knows, we may even end up doing a contest for the best gameplay videos and screenshots from the T-Bone Chaos Challenges. So go out there, get creative, and show us what you got!
WATCH DOGS 2 Post-Launch Community Events
Check out what we’ve got planned for you post-launch!
Special Events Month– Get hyped for upcoming DLCs with four weekly DedSec challenges, each with an exclusive reward for participation! The first event is an homage to T-Bone featuring his favorite pastimes: explosions, sweet car jumps and the wanton destruction of public property. Be on the lookout for these challenges in the Ubisoft Club app.
Online Weekend Events – Every other weekend, starting in January, we will change the experience in an online game mode and give you a boost in the Leaderboards. The Watch_Dogs 2 community team has the ability to tweak a few in-game mechanics here and there to create an all-new gameplay experience. Participate in these events to earn a unique in-game reward.
Please note that there is no “opt-in” mechanic for these events. Anyone playing online will experience the effects of these tweaks. If you’d prefer to not have these mechanics tweaked, simply disable the corresponding online mode for that period of time. However, these effects only last for a weekend (Friday - Sunday), so it’s worth giving it a try!
Most Wanted Bounty Events – Each month, we’ll assign a “Most Wanted” bounty status to a community member and it’s your job to hunt them down and collect those sweet, sweet bounty rewards. Best of all, we’ll be streaming the antics on Twitch. We’ll make it worth your while – the payouts will be increased, so get that bounty!
Ubisoft Club Weekly Challenges – Every week, there will be six new challenges available in the Ubisoft Club app. There will be new challenges each week and with each successfully-met challenge, you’ll earn followers.
Keep checking back here or @watchdogsgame for the latest news.
25 Expert Multiplayer Tips for Watch_Dogs 2
Hey there fellow DedSec members and hackers. Watch Dogs 2 multiplayer is going strong and we're stoked that so many of you have been participating in Hacking Invasions, Bounty Hunter and Coop mode!
With the help of Alexandre Brisebois, Dev Tester and Watch Dogs 2 multiplayer expert at Ubisoft Montreal, here are 25 tips we gathered for our multiplayer modes to help you be the best hacker in town.
Online Hacking Invasions
As the Hacker…
As the Victim…
Co-Op
Bounty
As the Protector…
As the Target…
As the Hunter…
Now go out there, make us proud, and cause some hacker motherf*ckery.
Patch Notes: Title Update 1.08 / 1.07.141.6 on PC
Now that we’ve patched most of the issues identified at launch, it’s time to start including the fun stuff. This patch is being made in preparation for the first DLC, the T-Bone Content Bundle, but also includes free content, balancing to multiplayer game modes (particularly Hacking Invasions), and lots of bug fixes. As we move forward, we’ll continue to introduce free content updates for everyone outside of DLC offerings and will continue to make tweaks to the online experience based on our data analysis and your feedback. Title Update 1.08 will be available later this week.
Note: This patch will deliver Leaderboard rewards for those who earned them in Season 1 but did not receive the items. We’ve also had a talk with the “PULL OVER NOW!” policewoman and she agrees that it’s not necessary to repeat that command as frequently to get the point across. We’re all grateful.
New Features
Replay Missions - We’ve added a functionality that lets you replay any mission that is part of a Main Operation. This will let you relive your favorite moments or experiment with different playstyles.
Hacker Level - Your new Hacker Level is now displayed as a stat in Marcus’ phone, based on followers acquired. You can see another player’s Hacker Level when you profile them, and this will allow you to compare yourself against your friends.
Enemy Weapons – DedSec picked up blueprints for enemy weapons and now they’re all available to print from the 3D Printer - for a fee.
Select Difficulty Level - The first time you start a new game, you’ll be prompted to choose a difficulty level. As a reminder, you can change the difficulty level at any time in the Game Options app.
Tweaks & Balancing
Hacking Invasions We made so many tweaks to Hacking Invasions we gave the mode its own section here. We tried some new things with this game mode and there’s been a lot of discussion since players started playing online. After reviewing the data and feedback, we’ve concluded that there are too many opportunities for the target to accidentally discover the hacker. This takes away from rewarding the skill of both the hacker and target; therefore, updates to Hacking Invasions are primarily focused on preventing the occurrence of accidental discoveries.
• Before the download is started:
o The target can no longer automatically profile the hacker or their RC.
o For the target player, in NetHack, the hacker’s RC is displayed as a neutral-colored object (instead of red).
o If the target does an action that reveals the presence of a hacker in their game the search zone is now 3 times bigger.
o To help the hacker to initiate the download while the target is moving in a vehicle, the hacker can now hold the hack button on the target for a distance up to 120m.
• During the download:
o Fixed an issue where the target’s name would be visible without having a line of sight on them.
o Fixed issues in NetHack that (in some situations) allowed the target to see civilians/hacker through the walls.
o To reduce accidental detection:
• In NetHack, for the target, a small delay has been added before showing the identity of the person being targeted.
• In NetHack, for the target, the targeting angle was reduced.
• Enemy player’s RC can no longer be profiled through walls.
• The red targeting line displayed between the enemy and their RC only appears when the RC is profiled, instead of just by targeting it.
• The hacker is warned when their RC is profiled: “RC WAS DETECTED: Your position has been revealed!”
• Hacker rewards: You’ll be rewarded based on the percentage of download completed, and you’ll get extra rewards if you escape. This also means that if your target disconnects or quits, you’ll still get some reward.
• Exploit: Fixed an exploit where the player could not be seen while in the water using the Nethack vision.
• Bug: Fixed an issue where the media player song would still play in Nudle Map while being invaded by another player, creating an exploit that allowed you to better identify when you’re being invaded.
• Bug: Fixed an exploit where the side activities icons would disappear from the world map if a player was being invaded.
Online
• Leaderboard: We want to showcase your leaderboard rank more prominently. Therefore, your leaderboard rank for each multiplayer activity is now displayed at the beginning and end of each match, and also in the Multiplayer app. This is a priority feature we want to improve, so you can expect future updates.
• Co-Op: We’ve made it easier to team up for co-op with a player that’s already in your session. Entering the vehicle of an allied player will prompt that player to team up for co-op.
• Co-Op: We’ve added difficulty level to online operations icons on the world map.
• You can now throw an IED on rooftops from street level. You can do this at any point, but as NPCs typically aren’t found wandering around on rooftops, this will come in especially handy in online game modes.
Other
• Shooting Mechanics: We’ve made changes to the shooting behavior so that shooting your weapon feels more satisfying.
o Improved weapon recoil, making for increased accuracy when firing multiple rounds.
o The sound of each weapon firing and bullet impact has been improved.
o Bullet tracers are more visible.
• AI: Improved AI sniper behavior by making them move less from cover to cover, meaning they’ll shoot more often.
• Localization: Larger fonts in Arabic and Chinese subtitles to make them more visible.
• Gallery: Minor graphical fixes to Camera and Gallery interface that will help you take better screenshots.
Bug Fixes
• Leaderboard rewards: If you earned a leaderboard reward in Season 1, it will be delivered to your inventory in this patch.
• “PULL OVER NOW!”: The loudspeaker policewoman will repeat this command less frequently.
• Wall Geometry Exploits: Players can no longer use motorcycles to pass through walls, and we’ve fixed other similar wall exploits.
• Broken missions/halted progression: Fixed progression-breaking issues for the following missions: Power to the Sheeple, Alcatraz Showdown, Infected Bytes, Just Making a Living, Get Back in the Game, Jailbird Blues, and Kicking it Old School. If you got stuck during any of these missions, you’ll be able to proceed now without starting over.
• Mass Sitara: Improved an issue where Sitara could be present multiple times in the Hacker Space during A Walk in the Park.
• Bounty: Fixed a rare issue where a Bounty could go on forever if the hunted player hid in Wrench’s garage.
• Bike Collision: Reduced the collision size on bikes so the player can drive closer to obstacles without bailing (time to find some trees and go nuts).
• Leaderboards: Fixed the description of the divisions in the leaderboards; percentage details were wrong.
• Invasion Rewards: Fixed an issue where you wouldn’t get the reward for neutralizing an invader without profiling them first.
• Co-Op: Fixed an issue where a player couldn’t get into a car while playing in coop.
• Improved performance and stability
• Minor graphical improvements
• Fixed multiple AI and traffic issues
• Several improvements on the GPS pathing
• Fixed multiple replication issues
• Fixed numerous minor audio and text issues in localized versions of the game
• Lots and lots of other minor bug fixes
PC-Only Updates
• San Francisco Fog (aka “Karl”): Fixed a timer bug that was causing the iconic fog to appear less often than intended. On the days it appears, it will show up around 6PM and disappear around 2PM the next day. In a future update, we’ll adjust and randomize its appearance times, so you can enjoy it more often. If you are eager to see it, you can always make the time pass faster by taking a nap on the sofa in the HQ.
o The fog is not turned on by default (due to high demands on your PC) and must be activated in settings.
• Improved performance on Crossfire systems (AMD dual GPU systems)
• Fixed various minor issues with the UI and text.
• Fixed minor issues with the HUD in multi-monitor mode
• Fixed various cases of reflections corruption.
If you continue to experience any of these or other issues, please report on the official forums or contact us directly via customer support. As always, a current list of known issues can be found here.
Watch Dogs 2 PC Mouse & Keyboard Adaptation Guide
We made a lot of changes and improvements to adapt the PC version of Watch_Dogs 2 for mouse and keyboard controls: All the UI screens, as well as shooting, hacking and driving mechanics were updated to be more PC-friendly. We also implemented plenty of different mouse and keyboard options in order to address the wide variety of requests from our PC players.
Shooting Adaptation
We changed the camera and animation systems to make shooting controls feel more natural and precise with the mouse. We implemented a raw input system, which makes the input signal from the mouse more precise and framerate-independent. We also provided a wide range of low mouse sensitivities to support a combination of high DPI mouse and low sensitivity. You can change the mouse sensitivity with the Look Sensitivity slider in the Mouse & Keyboard options menu.
Hacking Adaptation
To adapt Hacking Aim Assist (the white line which selects different objects) to the mouse control, we implemented a sensitivity slider which allows you to control the strength of the assist. The game still has some default assist value, but if you don’t want to automatically select everything nearby you can turn the Hack Aim Assist off. This will work in both single player and multiplayer game modes.
Driving Adaptation
To adapt driving controls to the keyboard, we implemented a system that counts how long the keyboard button was pressed, turning keyboard input from digital into analog. The default steering sensitivity settings are designed to mimic the original gamepad driving experience as much as possible with the keyboard. If you prefer a lower sensitivity or are used to a more "digital" input, you can use the Steering Sensitivity slider to set it to a more comfortable value.
You can also change the driving camera’s steering sensitivity and auto-centering speeds.
Traffic Speed Mode
By holding [CTRL] while driving, you can enter the Traffic Speed mode which allows you to “blend with traffic” and adapt to the speed of the car ahead of you. This is a great option for Hacking Invasions where you’re trying to avoid notice.
Equipment Grid/Emotes Grid
We redesigned our equipment and emote wheels to a mouse-friendly grid, allowing you to easily select weapons, gadgets, and mass hacks with the mouse.
Additional options
Hold/Toggle modes are supported for some controls such as Sprint, Walk, Aim, Equipment Grid, Emotes Grid and Traffic Speed. For example, you can set the Equipment Grid to Toggle mode and turn off the "Draw Weapon After Selection" option to use it as a more familiar PC inventory screen. Additionally, if you have different languages installed on your PC (with QWERTZ/AZERTY layouts, for example), you can also manually-select the keyboard layout used for the game.
Controls Customization
The game supports four different controls layouts: On Foot, Driving, Jumper, Quadcopter. Each can be customized separately – you can define a completely independent set of keys for each controls layout.
We also support M4/M5 mouse button mapping, so if you find that the default hacking mode is not comfortable with the middle mouse button control you can use additional mouse buttons instead. We also support mapping of mouse scroll up/down for actions which require a single button press to perform.
UI Adaptation
During the PC development process of Watch_Dogs 2, we focused on implementing a "mouse-centric UI", so players can finish any UI task using only the mouse. Two notable examples are the Nudle Map and the Media Player, but you can see this adaptation in any UI screen. We also changed “hold” confirmations into more mouse-friendly press actions and pop-ups in most of the UI screens.
PC hotkeys and tutorials
In addition to a more mouse-centric approach, Watch_Dogs2 also supports keyboard hotkeys for different cases. There is a keyboard hotkey for every UI and menu action, as well as for every weapon, gadget, mass hack, smartphone app and emote.
Further, all the in-game tutorials are also adapted to the mouse and keyboard: You can find additional information about the mouse and keyboard adaptations in the Know-It-All App, including videos and descriptions of PC features such as Traffic Speed or Walking Mode and a list of all the keyboard hotkeys. You can also find PC-specific hints during loading screens.
Gamepad support
Watch_Dogs 2 on PC supports controllers using all the XInput game types, such as Xbox 360, Xbox One, or any Xbox-based third-party controller, as well as the Playstation 4 controller. The game switches on-the-fly between gamepad and mouse & keyboard controls, no additional steps necessary.
Should you experience an issue with controller connections, please check the official guide here. Thanks for checking out our Mouse and Keyboard Adaptation Guide. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us @watchdogsgame or on our subreddit /r/watchdogsgame.
Watch Dogs 2's 1.06 title update has just been released across all platforms. This and previous patches were an important step towards stabilizing Watch Dogs 2's seamless multiplayer functionality, and other core online features, before releasing any new multiplayer content. Since these updates required additional development resources, we've made the decision to adjust our release schedule for that new content.
The first round of Watch Dogs 2 DLC, the T-Bone Content Bundle, will now be available on PS4 on December 22 (December 26 in Japan), followed by Xbox One and PC on January 24. This content revolves around Raymond Kenney, AKA T-Bone, and includes his attire, as well as his modified school bus, complete with bulldozer blade for creating extra chaos. The Bundle also offers a new Mayhem co-op challenge, with a tough new enemy archetype – the Grenadier – that uses advanced weaponry and tactics.
The T-Bone Chaos Challenge also begins the week of December 19. This free event content will run for four weeks, with each week bringing a new themed challenge that gives players a chance to earn in-game currency and rewards, like new car skins or a new bag for Marcus. In addition, a new Ubisoft Club special event challenge will be available each Monday for the duration of the Chaos Challenge.
We're excited for you to see what else we have in store for Watch Dogs 2. Thank you for your continued support.
Patch Notes PC 1.06.135.7
This patch and related issues it fixes are specific to the PC version of the game only.
This Thursday morning, we'll be releasing PC Patch 1.06.135.7, which is a follow-up to PC Patch 1.06.135.3 that was released on December 2nd. This patch focuses on making improvements to our integration of EasyAntiCheat that will make your experience smoother, without sacrificing security of online play. It also includes some bug and crash fixes, which we are continuing to investigate.
• Updates to EasyAntiCheat integration o Adds compatibility with MSI Afterburner (Guru3d RTSS v6.5.1, v6.5.0, v6.4.0, v6.2.0):
- Improves known issue [Multiplayer] Anti-cheat Software / Not Enabled. If you are still experiencing this issue, please review the FAQ
- Other compatibility improvements
• Mexican Spanish available for Steam players in Latin America
• Fixes [Steam] [Extra Content] Missing Content / Twitch, an issue that prevented Steam players who received the Twitch Prime bundle to see it as installed in-game.
• Fixes [Bug / Glitch] Full Gallery] known issue where players with Windows accounts with non-ASCII characters were seeing problems
• Fixes [Crash on launch] Disc Error / Steam issue
• Fixes issues where Xbox One controllers were not being recognized properly via Bluetooth
• General stability improvements during gameplay (e.g. fixed a rare crash when firing a weapon)
If you continue to experience any of these or other issues, please report on the official forums or contact us directly via customer support. For tips on optimizing your PC experience, please visit this guide.
As always, a current list of known issues can be found here.
