Before its numerous delays, Watch Dogs: Legion's was originally set to release on March 6, 2020. Perhaps if the game, complete with the planned co-op multiplayer, had hit that original date, it could have gained some of the incredible momentum that releases like Animal Crossing: New Horizons benefited from. Watch Dogs: Legion's online multiplayer also might have made sense in that context, something that isn't the case in March 2021. The mode is functional and fine with friends, but it's hard to say it's actually any good on its own.
Designed as an open-world endgame set after the main campaign, Watch Dogs: Legion's multiplayer has players building up a whole new crew of Londoners to do jobs, roam the city, and accrue currency. There are missions suitable for single-player, larger strings of missions that require multiple players, and a Spiderbot-based deathmatch mode. Outside of the deathmatch, the moment-to-moment gameplay of Watch Dogs: Legion's online open-world is very similar to the main game, meaning that will only really appeal to those who came out of the 15-20 hours of Watch Dogs: Legion's campaign content and really needed more.
The concept of an open-world filled with player characters is inherently appealing - just look at the years-long success of GTA Online. Rockstar's online mode supports around 30 players in one world on modern hardware. Ubisoft's attempt with Watch Dogs: Legion supports merely four. This means that those looking for a bustling city to jump into full of random players should likely look elsewhere. Unless players are bringing a full crew to the game themselves, the multiplayer mode could result in the same lonely experience as the campaign, with the added "fun" of grinding out a battle pass.
How To Build An Army Online In Watch Dogs: Legion
Instead of performing missions to recruit Londoners and gain upgrade currency, players perform missions to unlock levels on a battle pass that sometimes grants the currency required for both. This means that, unless they're willing to dedicate their lives to busting into the same dozen locations dotted around London for days on end, players have to choose between Watch Dogs: Legion's most vital systems at all times. Is a bigger crew with more abilities worth it, or is it worth it to upgrade the Spiderbot and complete missions faster? Players can make that decision or just buy premium recruits from Ubisoft's in-game store for real money and save themselves the headache. It's a ridiculously blatant example of how developers convert single-player games into multiplayer experiences via free-to-play economies, and likely only the most dedicated Watch Dogs faithful will decide that it's worth the investment.
At the end of the day, Watch Dogs: Legion's multiplayer is not only not good, but it's also baffling. It's small in scope compared to any number of other multiplayer experiences out there, many of which can be downloaded for free. Even Ubisoft's struggling free-to-play battle royale Hyper Scape is likely to be a better way to spend the hours. At least that game only hits players up for cosmetics rather than trying to get them to buy their way to victory in missions that feel like replicas of content from the single-player game they already paid for. A group of four friends that all really got into Watch Dogs: Legion last holiday might find some enjoyment here, but it's a struggle to picture a significant number of people making it to the end of this season's battle pass, much less sticking around to see what comes next.