Many of the announcements that made up the biggest reveals from today’s Ubisoft Forward may have been teased or leaked beforehand, but the publisher still had quite a few surprises to share. Perhaps the most surprising of these was the announcement that popular British rapper Stormzy will be appearing in Watch Dogs Legion.
For the uninitiated, Stormzy is a multi-award-winning artist with multiple chart-topping albums under his belt, who first gained fame on the UK underground music scene for his series of freestyle raps over classic grime beats. Since then, he’s become especially known for being very outspoken, using his music to express concerns with the UK’s political climate and his distaste for the current government. This makes him a natural fit for Watch Dogs Legion, a game set in a near-future London that leans heavily on themes of oppression and resistance.
A new trailer released during the Ubisoft Forward broadcast revealed that Stormzy’s cameo will include a full-on in-game mission called Fall On My Enemies, though it didn’t reveal any more details beyond that. Aside from that, though, Stormzy’s collaboration with Ubisoft will also result in a music video for his hit song Rainfall, made entirely in the game’s engine and featuring a CG Stormzy performing against the backdrop of its stylized version of London.
“We are thrilled for Stormzy to be a part of Watch Dogs Legion. His music and what he speaks to as an artist is extremely relevant for our London setting, and for the larger themes of our game,” said creative director Clint Hocking, who called it a “career highlight” for Legion's developers at Ubisoft Toronto to collaborate with him. Stormzy himself, meanwhile, also took the opportunity to hype the game, saying, “You lot are about to have your minds blown. What they have done in terms of recreating London is the most insane, epic, incredible thing I've ever seen, so I'm honored to be a part of it.”
Stormzy’s collaboration is just the latest surprising cameo that the open-world action game will boast. Earlier this summer, Ubisoft revealed that the game’s cast will feature descendants of Assassin’s Creed protagonist Jacob Frye, an addition that could open up a lot of interesting narrative possibilities for the franchise going forward. And during Ubisoft Forward today, it was confirmed that original Watch Dogs protagonist Aiden Pearce will be playable in Legion’s DLC.
It won’t be much longer until fans can see Stormzy appear in Legion, as the game is still on track to launch on current-gen platforms next month. Next-gen gamers won’t have to wait long after that either, as Watch Dogs Legion has been confirmed to be an Xbox Series X launch title, meaning it will be playable on next-gen hardware this November. This also suggests that the game might also be a launch title for the PlayStation 5, but fans won't know for sure until Sony announces that console's release date.
Watch Dogs Legion launches on October 29 for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One. The game will then come to the Xbox Series X on November 10 and the PS5 at a currently-unknown date.
