Ubisoft punks people with elaborate Watch Dogs street hack

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May 16, 2014

Ubisoft today released a new video showing off how the kind of hacking that players can do in Watch Dogs could work in real life. In the video, Ubisoft tricks people into believing that an app on their smartphone can control things like ATMs, street lights, and cars.

The video, filmed in Los Angeles with "real customers," culminates with a staged car accident, which in turn leads police to arrive on the scene to question them about what happened. It's at this point that situation is revealed to be an elaborate prank. Watch Dogs the game takes place in Chicago.

Ubisoft likely had to close the street and pay for stunt drivers and background actors to film the scene, which must have been expensive. But the game likely has a significant marketing budget, as Ubisoft expects Watch Dogs to be a massive success when it's released on May 27.

For more on Watch Dogs, be sure to read GameSpot's previous coverage.