Watch Dogs 2
Developers | |
---|---|
Ubisoft Montreal | |
Ubisoft Paris | |
Ubisoft Toronto | |
Ubisoft Bucharest | |
Ubisoft Reflections | |
Publishers | |
Ubisoft | |
Engines | |
Disrupt | |
Release dates | |
Windows | November 29, 2016[1] |
Reception | |
Metacritic | 75 |
OpenCritic | 82 |
IGDB | 81 |
Taxonomy | |
Monetization | One-time game purchase, DLC |
Modes | Singleplayer, Multiplayer |
Pacing | Real-time |
Perspectives | Third-person |
Controls | Direct control |
Genres | Action, Adventure, Open world |
Vehicles | Track racing |
Art styles | Realistic |
Themes | Contemporary, North America, Sci-fi |
Series | Watch Dogs |
Watch Dogs | |
---|---|
Watch Dogs | 2014 |
Watch Dogs 2 | 2016 |
Watch Dogs: Legion | 2020 |
Watch Dogs 2 is a singleplayer and multiplayer third-person action, adventure and open world game in the Watch Dogs series.
General information
Availability
Source | DRM | Notes | Keys | OS |
---|---|---|---|---|
Retail | ||||
Amazon.com | Deluxe Edition and Gold Edition also available. Only activates in the United States. | |||
Amazon.co.uk | Deluxe Edition and Gold Edition also available. Only available in the United Kingdom. | |||
Epic Games Store | Deluxe Edition and Gold Edition also available. | |||
GamersGate | Deluxe Edition and Gold Edition also available. | |||
Deluxe Edition and Gold Edition also available. | ||||
Green Man Gaming | Deluxe Edition and Gold Edition also available. | |||
Humble Store | Deluxe Edition and Gold Edition also available. | |||
Microsoft Store | Included exclusively with Xbox Game Pass for PC. | |||
Steam | Deluxe Edition and Gold Edition also available. | |||
Ubisoft Store | Deluxe Edition and Gold Edition also available. Gold Edition included with Ubisoft+. |
|||
Origin (unavailable) | Deluxe Edition and Gold Edition are also available. |
- All versions require Ubisoft Connect and Denuvo Anti-Tamper DRM.[2]
- Easy Anti-Cheat DRM is enabled by default but can be skipped by
-eac_launcher
command.
Version Differences
- The Deluxe Edition contains the Deluxe Pack, containing cosmetic items not sold separately.
- The Gold Edition contains both the Deluxe Pack and Season Pass.
Monetization
DLC and expansion packs
Name | Notes | |
---|---|---|
Season Pass | ||
Ultra Texture Pack | Free | |
Human Conditions | Included in the Season Pass | |
No Compromise | Included in the Season Pass | |
Mega Pack | A bundle that includes: Retro Modernist Pack, Glow_Pro Pack, Ride Britannia Pack, Kick It Pack, Velvet Cowboy and Bay Area Thrash Pack | |
Supreme Pack | A bundle that includes: Black Hat Pack, EliteSec Pack, Guru Pack, Dumpster Diver Pack and Home Town Pack | |
Ultimate Pack | A bundle that includes: Psychedelic Pack, Pixel Art Pack, Ded Labs Pack, Glam Pack, Ubisoft Pack, Punk Rock Pack, Urban Artist Pack, Private Eye Pack and Guts, Grit and Liberty Pack | |
Bay Area Thrash Pack | ||
Black Hat Pack | ||
Ded Labs Pack | ||
Dumpster Diver Pack | ||
EliteSec Pack | ||
Fully Decked Out Bundle | A bundle that includes: The Pixel Art customisation pack, The Guts, Grit and Liberty customisation pack, The Twitch hoodie for Marcus, 5,000 DedSec followers | |
Glam Pack | ||
Glow_Pro Pack | ||
Guru Pack | ||
Guts, Grit and Liberty Pack | ||
Home Town Pack | ||
Kick It Pack | ||
Pixel Art Pack | ||
Private Eye Pack | Free | |
Psychedelic Pack | Included in the Season Pass | |
Punk Rock Pack | ||
Retro Modernist Pack | ||
Ride Britannia Pack | ||
Root Access Pack | Included in the Season Pass | |
T-Bone Pack | Included in the Season Pass | |
Ubisoft Pack | ||
Urban Artist Pack | ||
Velvet Cowboy | ||
Zodiac Killer Mission | Pre-order bonus, also included in Root Access Pack. Can't be purchased individually. |
- (Un)Lawful (Dis)Order and Bitflip Suit DLC are PS4 exclusive.[3]
Essential improvements
Skip launcher
Use the -nosplash command line argument[citation needed]
|
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|
Skip intro videos
Download and install no intro mod. |
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Game data
Configuration file location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Watch_Dogs 2\ |
Microsoft Store | |
Steam Play (Linux) | <SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/447040/pfx/[Note 1] |
- Photos taken with the in-game camera are located in
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Watch_Dogs 2\LocalStorage0
.
Save game data location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | <Ubisoft-Connect-folder>\savegames\<user-id>\2688\ |
Steam | <Ubisoft-Connect-folder>\savegames\<user-id>\3619\ |
Steam Play (Linux) | <SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/447040/pfx/[Note 1] |
Save game cloud syncing
System | Native | Notes |
---|---|---|
Epic Games Launcher | ||
Origin | ||
Steam Cloud | ||
Ubisoft Connect | ||
Xbox Cloud |
Video
Graphics feature | State | WSGF | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Widescreen resolution | |||
Multi-monitor | [1] | ||
Ultra-widescreen | In-engine cutscenes are 16:9 with black bars. | ||
4K Ultra HD | [1] | ||
Field of view (FOV) | 70-110°. | ||
Windowed | [1] | ||
Borderless fullscreen windowed | [1] | ||
Anisotropic filtering (AF) | Up to 16x. | ||
Anti-aliasing (AA) | FXAA, SMAA (1x and T2X), MSAA, TXAA,[1] and SSAA via Pixel Density setting (up to 1.5, aka 2.25x SSAA) | ||
Vertical sync (Vsync) | [2] | ||
60 FPS and 120+ FPS | [1] [1] |
||
High dynamic range display (HDR) | [4] |
Input
Keyboard and mouse | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Remapping | [1] | |
Mouse acceleration | Off by Default.[1] | |
Mouse sensitivity | Off by Default.[1] | |
Mouse input in menus | [1] | |
Mouse Y-axis inversion | X-Axis also available | |
Controller | ||
Controller support | ||
Full controller support | ||
Controller remapping | Presets only. | |
Controller sensitivity | ||
Controller Y-axis inversion | X-Axis also available |
Controller types |
---|
XInput-compatible controllers | ||
---|---|---|
Xbox button prompts | ||
Impulse Trigger vibration |
PlayStation controllers | ||
---|---|---|
PlayStation button prompts | ||
Light bar support | ||
Adaptive trigger support | ||
DualSense haptic feedback support | ||
Connection modes | Wired, |
Generic/other controllers |
---|
Additional information | ||
---|---|---|
Button prompts | [1] | |
Controller hotplugging | [1] | |
Haptic feedback | ||
Digital movement supported | ||
Simultaneous controller+KB/M |
Audio
Audio feature | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Separate volume controls | ||
Surround sound | Dolby Atmos[citation needed] | |
Subtitles | ||
Closed captions | ||
Mute on focus lost | ||
Royalty free audio | Uses licensed music for radio music and during certain cutscenes. |
Localizations
Language | UI | Audio | Sub | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
English | ||||
Arabic | ||||
Simplified Chinese | ||||
Traditional Chinese | ||||
Czech | ||||
Dutch | ||||
French | ||||
German | ||||
Hungarian | ||||
Italian | ||||
Japanese | ||||
Korean | ||||
Polish | ||||
Brazilian Portuguese | ||||
Russian | ||||
Spanish | ||||
Latin American Spanish | Uplay only. Other versions can be converted. |
Network
Multiplayer types
Type | Native | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|
LAN play | |||
Online play |
Disable Easy Anti-Cheat and online play
- Besides using the multiplayer options found in the game configuration menu, you can also prevent online play by disabling the Easy Anti-Cheat protection.
- Can be useful if you plan to mod the game, as Easy Anti-Cheat does not allow modified game files without in-game warning messages, and possible risk of an account ban.
Launch the game with the -eac_launcher command line argument[5]
|
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VR support
3D modes | State | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|
Native 3D | Nvidia 3D Vision Discover | ||
Nvidia 3D Vision | See Helix Mod: WATCH_DOGS2. |
Devices | |||
---|---|---|---|
Tobii Eye Tracking | Supports: Aim at Gaze, Bungee Zoom, Cover at Gaze, Extended View - Eye & Head Tracking, Hack at Gaze. |
Issues unresolved
Nvidia RTX 3000 and 4000 series flickering issues
- With the series 3000 and 4000, the game has an ongoing long-standing issue with flickering of in-game world elements.[6][7] Changing the graphics settings, limiting the game's FPS or reverting to an older driver version doesn't fix or alleviate the problem at all.[8] Nvidia recognized the issue as a known driver bug and will thus likely fix this issue through a future driver update.[9]
Workaround for RTX 30x0 and 40x0 GPUs[10] |
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Note that this workaround has the following undesirable side-effects in my testing:
|
Prevent GPU usage over 90% for RTX 3000 users[11] |
---|
Once the GPU usage is lower than 90%, the flicker disappears on RTX 3000 GPUs. However simply limiting FPS won't work since GPU frequency automatially turns down as the game needs less GPU resource.
|
Issues fixed
Crashes to desktop on AMD cards after few minutes of play
Edit configuration file[citation needed] |
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|
Stuttering during gameplay
Install the game on SSD[12][13] |
---|
Turn off multiplayer features in game options or disable Easy Anti-Cheat and online play[14] |
---|
Disable "Control Flow Guard" for WD2[15] |
---|
|
Game doesn't launch
Turn off or unplug the monitor[citation needed] |
---|
|
Black bars during cutscenes or squished image
- Game incorrectly renders at 4096x2160 (17:9) resolution, resulting in display oddities.
Remove all references to the 4096x2160 resolution[16][17] |
---|
|
Edit configuration file[citation needed] |
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|
Other information
API
Technical specs | Supported | Notes |
---|---|---|
Direct3D | 11 |
Executable | 32-bit | 64-bit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Windows |
Middleware
Middleware | Notes | |
---|---|---|
Physics | Havok | |
Audio | Wwise | |
Cutscenes | Bink Video | |
Multiplayer | Easy Anti-Cheat | [18] See Disable Easy Anti-Cheat and online play. |
System requirements
Windows[1] | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | Recommended | |
Operating system (OS) | 7 SP1 | 8.1, 10 |
Processor (CPU) | Intel Core i5-2400S 2.5 GHz AMD FX-6120 3.5 GHz |
Intel Core i5-3470 3.2 GHz AMD FX-8120 3.9 GHz |
System memory (RAM) | 6 GB | 8 GB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | 50 GB | |
Video card (GPU) | Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 AMD Radeon HD 7870 2 GB of VRAM | Nvidia GeForce GTX 780/970/1060 AMD Radeon R9 290 4 GB of VRAM |
- A 64-bit operating system is required.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (447040) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Watch Dogs 2 PC Specs and System Requirements Revealed - UbiBlog - Ubisoft - last accessed on 2016-10-18
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Watch Dogs 2 PC FAQ | Watch Dogs 2 official website | Ubisoft
- ↑ PLAYSTATION EXCLUSIVE CONTENT FOR WATCH DOGS 2
- ↑ Verified by User:Aaronth07 on 2020-07-14
- Tested by enabling Windows HDR. No toggle in-game either way.
- ↑ Cheat Happens - Watch Dogs 2 Message Board - How to Disable Easy Anti-Cheat in WD2 - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ Watch Dogs 2 (PC) flickering issue on RTX cards - ad44 - YouTube - last accessed on 2023-03-12
- ↑ Watch Dogs 2 - Flickering Bug - gameswecan - YouTube - last accessed on 2023-03-12
- ↑ Verified by User:Mrtnptrs on 2023-03-12
- Limiting FPS to 60 at lowest settings on a RTX 4090 did not help; did that as a lot of users suggested this issue only happened when the GPU was at 99% usage. My testing thus concluded that this wasn't the case and lots of people also said that didn't work for them.
- ↑ Release 530 Driver for Windows, Version 531.18 - Windows 11 / 10 - Release Notes - Nvidia - last accessed on 2023-03-12
- "[GeForce RTX 4090] Watch Dogs 2 may display flickering when staring at the sky[3858016]"
- ↑ PSA: Watch Dogs 2 Sky Flicker Workaround By Ubisoft, last accessed July 2023
- ↑ Verified by User:Qinlili on 2024-02-16
- For my laptop with 11800H and 3060, disable turbo and set affinity to only 5 cores provides 55-65fps with no flicker.
- ↑ W2D SSD vs HDD test - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ Similar issue fixed - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ fix for 970/6600K
- ↑ Reddit - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ Steam Community :: Guide :: Fix black bars in cutscenes and aspect ratio issues with 4K/UHD TVs on PC - last accessed on 2024-01-07
- ↑ Verified by User:Keith on 2024-01-07
- ↑ Easy Anti-Cheat - last accessed on May 2023