Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs: Legion will release with a Mature rating from the ESRB, unsurprising news given that the first two games in the franchise also received the same rating. But what did this particular game do to earn a Mature rating?

The third game in the Watch Dogs franchise has gained attention for the fact that it will not star a single protagonist. Instead, Watch Dogs: Legion will allow players to recruit almost any NPC to the group of hackers known as DedSec. Players will be able to switch between any NPC on their roster and use that NPCs specialized skills to tackle missions. Watch Dogs: Legion will also have DLC containing four “hero” characters, including a member of the Assassin Order from Assassin’s Creed and Aiden Pearce, star of the original Watch Dogs.

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According to the ESRB, Watch Dogs: Legion is rated Mature for multiple reasons, including Intense Violence and Sexual Themes. Diving into the more detailed explanation, the ESRB cites the use of melee weapons and firearms, as well as explicit violence in Watch Dogs: Legion’s cutscenes. But the description also reveals that players are going to discover some fairly intense recreations of at least one “human-organ harvesting operation,” with dismantled bodies on full display. There will also be red light districts players can explore, as well as the ability to drink alcohol, complete with the mechanic of a distorted screen. Lastly, players should expect a fair amount of course language on hand.

How Does Watch Dogs: Legion’s Rating Compare to Earlier Games?

All of this is fairly in line with the content that can be found in Watch Dogs and Watch Dogs 2. Watch Dogs: Legion has already teased some fairly brutal plot lines, including a crime lord who appears to be dealing in technology-aided slavery and human trafficking. Earlier games in the series have a history of dark storylines; Aiden Pearce of Watch Dogs was a man bent on revenge who had a very flexible moral line when it came to dealing with criminals. Watch Dogs 2 took a more light-hearted approach to fighting corruption through hacking, but still featured some violent sections.

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With the “play as anyone” feature of Watch Dogs: Legion, it’s easy to imagine that players will be able to be fairly creative with the use of their NPCs. With dozens and dozens of archetypes ranging from super spy to football fan, players will be able to be as stealthy or as violent as they like, allowing them to control some of the aspects that gave the game its Mature rating. Watch Dogs: Legion is still a dystopian game that paints a fairly bleak future, however, so intense situations are likely to be encountered regardless of the player’s actions.

Source: ESRB

Watch Dogs: Legion releases on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Google Stadia, and PC on October 29. The game will also be a launch title for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

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About The Author


Caitlin Grieve
(198 Articles Published)

Caitlin has been writing about video games and sci-fi/fantasy books since 2018. Her video game adventures began a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away as an Imperial pilot in Star Wars: TIE Fighter. When she’s not gaming, she’s reading, and when she’s not reading, she’s writing. But she is ALWAYS plotting her next D&D escapades.

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