Ubisoft Forward Announcements July 2020: Watch Dogs: Legion, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Far Cry 6 & more

At the company’s first Ubisoft Forward event, the French publisher showed off new gameplay and details for their upcoming titles including, Watch Dogs: Legion, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Far Cry 6.

Watch Dogs: Legion

The third Watch Dogs game was announced back at E3 2019 and was originally set for release in March 2020 before being delayed.

The biggest gameplay feature of the game is the ability to “Play as Anyone”. According to Ubisoft, “Play as Anyone gives players the entire city of London to choose their roster of resistance members from. Every single person in the open world can be recruited and played, is unique and has a backstory, personality and skillset.”

You’ll be able to recruit up to 40 characters at a time from an MI6 agent to a bare-knuckle fighter, from a brilliant hacker to a getaway driver, from a football hooligan to an inconspicuous old lady.

The game supports hardware-accelerated DirectX Raytracing on Xbox Series X along with full ray-tracing support on PCs with Nvidia RTX GPUs.

Those who purchase Watch Dogs: Legion on Xbox One or PS4 will be able to upgrade to the next-gen version at no additional cost. The game supports Smart Delivery on Xbox consoles.

In terms of what the game is about, Ubisoft says:

In Watch Dogs: Legion, London is facing its downfall. Amidst the growing unrest of a restless London, a mysterious entity known as Zero-Day has framed secret underground resistance DedSec for coordinated bombings across London. In the aftermath, criminal opportunists from every dark corner of London took hold and filled the void left by a defeated government. As a member of DedSec, players will be going up against criminal opportunists in Watch Dogs: Legion; sadists, mercenaries, cybercriminals, and more; they’ll have to be prepared for a variety of situations. Players must recruit members into their DedSec Resistance to take on these criminal opportunists, liberate London and uncover the mystery behind Zero-Day.

In addition to the standard edition, there will be three special editions of Watch Dogs: Legion.

• Gold Edition includes the base game and the Season Pass, including new story expansions, extra DedSec missions, four unique heroes, the Complete Edition of the original Watch Dogs game from 2014 and more.
• Ultimate Edition includes Gold Edition and Ultimate digital content, including three new playable heroes, four weeks’ VIP Status to earn currency faster and new masks.
• Collector’s Edition includes the Ultimate Edition plus the LED Ded Coronet Mask Replica, an exclusive SteelBook, a set of three stickers and a recto-verso propaganda poster, all inspired by the game’s universe, and instant access to the mask in-game. Collector’s Edition is exclusive to the Ubisoft Store.

Watch Dogs: Legion launches on October 29th, 2020 for Xbox One, PS4, Stadia and PC (via Epic Games Store and Uplay). The game will launch on Xbox Series X and PS5 at the launch of the consoles.

Pre-orders for Watch Dogs: Legion is available now.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

It’s been a few months since Ubisoft announced the latest entry in the Assassin’s Creed franchise and now we have a release date.

According to Ubisoft, here’s what the game is about:

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is an ambitious action role-playing game that places player choice and exploration at the center of the experience. Throughout the world, players will encounter gameplay challenges, unique and surprising characters with unforgettable stories and a variety of breathtaking landscapes to set foot on. Players will have the ability to customize their character’s hair, tattoos, war paint, weapons and gear, in addition to the option of switching between male or female Eivor at any time. Political alliances, combat decisions and dialogue choices can influence the world of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, so players must choose wisely to protect their clan’s home and future.

In addition to the game, Ubisoft is releasing some companion pieces including the game’s soundtrack (with an EP coming July 17th), a novel, a comic series from Dark Horse and The Art of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is set to release on November 10th, 2020 for Xbox One, PS4, Stadia and PC. The game will also be launching on Xbox Series X/S and PS5 at the launch of those consoles.

If you purchase Assassin’s Creed Valhalla on Xbox One or PS4, you’ll get the next-gen version for free.

Far Cry 6

The latest Far Cry game lets you “lead a Guerrilla Revolution to Free the Island Nation of Yara From its Brutal Leader Antón Castillo.”

“Powerful and complex antagonists are part of Far Cry’s DNA, so right from the beginning, we knew we had to raise the bar for who these characters could be and how they would come to life,” said Navid Khavari, Narrative Director, Ubisoft Toronto. “Working with such an amazing roster of talent, including the one and only Giancarlo Esposito, and seeing how they embody our antagonists as terrifying but also deeply complex human characters has been an unbelievable experience that I can’t wait to share with our fans.”

Far Cry 6 features performances from renowned actor and Emmy Award Nominee Giancarlo Esposito (Better Call Saul, The Boys, The Mandalorian) joined by Anthony Gonzalez (Coco), a score created by film and television composer Pedro Bromfman (Narcos), and an opening sequence directed by Emmy Award winner Patrick Clair (Westworld, True Detective).

According to Ubisoft, here’s what the game is about:

Far Cry 6 plunges players into the heart of a modern-day guerrilla revolution set in Yara, a tropical paradise frozen in time. President Antón Castillo (Esposito) vows to restore his country to its former glory while grooming his son Diego (Gonzalez) to follow in his footsteps. Yet paradise has a price, and enriching his country means subjugating those who don’t adhere to his vision. In this island nation in turmoil, players will experience the adrenaline and chaos of guerrilla combat as they are swept up in a revolutionary movement to take down a tyrant.

You’ll play as Dani Rojas (either male or female), a local Yaran who joins in the revolution against Antón Castillo.

There will three special editions of the game:

• The Gold Edition will include the base game and the Season Pass.
• The Ultimate Edition will include the base game, the Season Pass, and the Ultimate pack, which includes Jungle Expedition pack, the Croc Hunter pack, and the Vice pack.
• The Collector’s Edition will include the base game, Season Pass, the Ultimate pack, a high-end display model of “Tostador”, the flamethrower from the game (7 parts to be assembled, length: 72cm), a “How to Assemble” one-pager artwork illustrated by famous artist Tobatron, a unique Collector’s Case-based on Tobatron’s iconic art style, an exclusive Steelbook, a 64-page Artbook, a set of 10 stickers, a Chorizo keyring, a map and a selected Soundtrack of the Game.

Far Cry 6 is launching sometime in Ubisoft’s Fiscal Year 2021-22 (i.e between April 2021 and March 2022) for Xbox One, PS4, Stadia and PC. The game will also be launching on Xbox Series X and PS5. It was originally set for February 18, 2021.

If you purchase Far Cry 6 on Xbox One or PS4, you’ll get the next-gen version for free.

Hyper Scape

Hyper Scape, Ubisoft’s first Battle Royale is now available in Open Beta on PC.

According to Ubisoft, “Hyper Scape takes place in the distant future of 2054, where up to 100 Contenders descend upon the virtual city of Neo-Arcadia to engage in action-packed and fast-paced matches to be crowned champion.”

The Hyper Scape Open Beta includes a free 30 tier battle pass as well as an in-game shop for additional customization options.

All your progression and items from the Open Beta will carry over to future live phases of the game and the full launch.

Hyper Scape is set to launch it’s Season One on PC, Xbox One and PS4 later this summer.

You can sign up for the Open Beta now.

Update – September 9th, 2020: Ubisoft has announced that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is launching a week earlier, now on November 10th.