Watch Dogs seeks to feature realistic cyber hacking.
Ubisoft, the developer of the new up and coming game Watch Dogs, is doing some serious thinking about hacking. Because the game is based around hacking, the devs are asking cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab for feedback on how hacking is portrayed in the game.
Kaspersky Lab is a well-known company which specializes in protecting big brand name clients from real-life cyber hackers. Essentially, clients will pay them to try to hack into their own companies in order to find security weak spots. Basically, they’re professional hackers. Can you say, “best job ever?”
Ubisoft wants to let the security firm have a say in the game. With the help of Kaspersky, Watch Dogs should feature accurate cyber hacks to make the game feel as realistic as possible.
Ubisoft is playing with the big dogs.
If the name Kaspersky Labs sounds familiar, it’s because these were the guys who exposed the Winnti hacker group about two months ago. Winnti is a hacking group and is still actively hacking into MMO patch servers and infecting players’ game clients through subtly hacked patches. If you missed that whole extravaganza, I have a write-up on it here.
Watch Dogs is basically Grand Theft Auto crossed with some crazy cyber hacking mechanics. Main character, Aiden, is a man with a past out for some vigilante justice and can hack into the city’s central operating system (ctOS) in order to complete various game objectives. Aiden can hack into security cameras, change traffic light patterns, and alter all sorts of public services in the city.
Aiden is hardly a 1990s cyber punk, but more of a gritty and dark Batman-esq vigilante. Sorry, Matthew Lillard will not be reviving his role as “Cereal” from the ’95 movie Hackers. I know, I’m disappointed too. Can’t win ‘em all.
