Assassin's Creed Origins finally confirms Watch Dogs is set in the same universe

Assassin's Creed Origins has confirmed, once and for all, it takes place in the same shared universe as fellow Ubisoft series Watch Dogs.

The theory both series are connected is not new. Ubisoft has played with the idea before, and slipped references to each into the others' games.

Assassin's Creed Easter eggs feature in both Watch Dogs 1 and 2, while Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag includes mention of Watch Dogs' fictional evil corporation Blume.

By far the most obvious crossover, however, remains that of Black Flag character Olivier Garneau - which we reported on all the way back in June 2014. Garneau has a notable role in Black Flag's modern day section, before he travels to Chicago (where Watch Dogs 1 is set) and then appears in that game as a target in a side-mission.

Previously, Ubisoft dismissed this whole episode as non-canon. Writing on Twitter, Ubisoft Montreal narrative director Darby McDevitt described it as a "little joke". Subsequent games attempted to throw doubt on the crossover, mentioning Garneau as simply having gone missing.

Until now...

Warning: there may be Assassin's Creed Origins spoilers ahead

Origins revisits and doubles down on crossover, making it canon with the Assassin's Creed universe by featuring a screenshot of Garneau in Watch Dogs.

The image, below, can be found when browsing the laptop in Origins' own modern day section. You can find files on all sorts of previous Abstergo employees, including this supposed security camera footage of Garneau getting killed.

And who is the shooter? That would be you - aka. Aiden Pearce, if you played Watch Dogs.

Of course, again, it is Ubisoft nodding to fans (like me) who follow all of this stuff. Origins' modern day is a love letter to long-time devotees of the Assassin's Creed series and stuffed with references to previous games. That said... try discounting this as a joke.