In an interview with Turkish site Merlin’In Kazani, Watch_Dogs senior producer Dominic Guay revealed that the game has been in development since 2009. This was in reference to accusations that the protagonist Aiden Pearce’s design was inspired by a character from the TV show Person of Interest which aired in 2011.
“Actually we were many years into development when we heard of that show [Person of Interest] for the first time. Making a new IP like Watch_Dogs is a long process and we started to craft our vision in early 2009.
“I think that when you choose a relevant subject matter that is echoing real world events you can expect to see similarities with others. To be honest I have not had a chance to really get into that show yet, I’m just too busy with the game.”
Watch_Dogs is currently slated to release for Xbox 360, PS3, PC and Wii U on November 19th in North America with Xbox One and PS4 releases set for Q4 2013.