Assassin’s Creed Origins Confirms That Watch Dogs and AC Franchise Are In The Same Universe

Remember when Watch Dogs was announced by Ubisoft and we all jokingly asked if it was Assassin's Creed in the present day? We asked if Aiden Pearce was actually an Assassin working against the Templar, trading leaps of faith and assassin blades for a cell phone and elite hacking skills. Well, it turns out we may not have been that far off.

Seeing how both IPs are owned by Ubisoft, and share a lot of mechanics, Ubisoft has teased at the idea of a shared universe before. Until now, it's been mostly in the form of tongue-in-cheek easter eggs. Watch Dogs 1 and 2 featured Assassin's Creed Easter egg secrets and collectibles, while Assassin's Creed: Black Flag went so far as to mention Watch Dog's Blume Corporation. But again, it was all insignificant little secrets that linked the games.

Except for one in Black Flag, which features a character named Olivier Garneau. He had a prominent role in Black Flag's modern day storyline before he travels to Chicago (the location of Watch Dogs 1) where he appears in a side-mission. While this got theorists in a tizzy, it can still pass as developers just messing with us. Especially because Ubisoft later dismissed the whole episode as non-canon, describing at as a "little joke". 

But the latest crossover material is quite a bit more prominent…

Warning: Minor Assassin's Creed Origins spoilers ahead. If you don't want the game spoiled, turn back now!

Assassin's Creed Origins finally takes another stab at the crossover theory by featuring a screenshot of Garneau from Watch Dogs. The image below, which can be found by browsing the laptop in Origins'  modern-day section, depicts Garneau getting killed on security camera footage. The shooter is someone quite prominent: Aiden Pearce.

Until now, the connective tissue between the games has been minor, unimportant characters that could be handwaved as a joke or just an appreciative nod to fans. But the fact that these Easter eggs continue in both games and this latest one features a main character of the parallel title could be a step up from the har-har-har humor of the previous connections.

The Modern day setting of the Assassin's Creed  series is full of nods and references