Watch Dogs 2’s Story Wants to Show Players the Danger of Big Data

Watch Dogs 2 is doing a lot of things to differentiate itself from its predecessor, including a new, more focused story. The latest in Ubisoft’s “Remote Access” series on the game, covers its story, with everything from the basic setup to the motivations of both the protagonists and the villains. You can see the full trailer down below.

In Watch Dogs 2, the hacking group known as DedSec is trying to let people regain control over who they are, versus the information that’s out there. Marcus Holloway, the game’s protagonist, is a bright young man who ends up getting profiled and accused of a crime he didn’t do. Marcus begins working with DedSec to show people the injustices of the system, and try to help take down part of the CTOS system that’s labeling people. Along the way, you’ll have to go up against corrupt politicians, rival hacking groups and more.

Dominic Guay, the senior producer of Watch Dogs 2, adds a little more onto the game’s context and how it applies to current events,

“In Watch Dogs 1 we explored surveillance technology, and how you could invade people’s privacy. In Watch Dogs 2 we’re interested in something called ‘big data.’ Really what it means is all the stuff we do online, all the information that is recorded.”

The scriptwriter for Watch Dogs 2, Lucien Soulban, describes how the Blume Corporation in the game compiles all of this data collected from what we do online, and doesn’t see anything wrong with it.

“But what happens when you’ve got somebody that acts as the middleman between Blume and the data they possess, and they start doing something, pushing their own agenda for it,” Soulban says.

Watch Dogs 2 hopes to tackle what could happen when somebody gains access to every piece of data about every person, and the dangers that poses. Marcus doesn’t come into the game trying to save the world, but rather from the angle of trying to get back at Blume for screwing him over. The team behind Watch Dogs 2 wants to draw parallels to how data is being used in our own lives, and Ruffin Prentiss the voice actor for Marcus thinks players will understand this,

“It’s up to you to decide which side you’re on and what’s right and what’s wrong, but at the end of the day this story is exactly what is happening today.”

Watch Dogs 2 launches on November 15 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. You can also take a look at some new gameplay footage from the game featuring sneaking.

What do you think about the story and themes Watch Dogs 2 is tackling? Let us know, by leaving a comment down below.

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