Since the first showing of Watch Dogs, we’ve been captivated with Ubisoft’s gorgeous open-world hack-‘em-up. MyGaming caught up with Danny Belanger, lead designer on Watch Dogs, to discuss the game and the challenges of brining it to life.

MyGaming asked Belanger if Ubisoft has been feeling the pressure since initially showing off Watch Dogs and seeing the fans’ strong reception, or whether there was confidence from day 1.

“It was a great boost,” said Belanger about the initial reaction, “but then came the pressure. I am really happy with what we’ve done and how it all happened, because the opposite would’ve been a nightmare.”

Watch Dogs shares certain similarities with other Ubisoft franchises, such as Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed, and MyGaming asked whether Ubisoft benefits from the tech and talent behind those games.

“We share a lot of knowledge between the different studios and teams. In reality, it’s a lot more bottom up than people think. What I mean is that when you create a game, you have certain needs. We wanted to create a modern day open-world action game with a lot of hacking, so we needed experience with road networking, building structures, shooting, traversing, and stealth, so its more the actual brains and talents of the people at Ubisoft than the technology.”

To further capture the authenticity of hacking, Ubisoft brought in cyber-security specialist Kaspersky Labs to help with the game, and Belanger said that it helped tremendously with insight into what is possible and what is not.

“We really wanted the hacking to make sense and be relevant,” said Belanger. “We wanted it to make sense, and with our research we found that there are things not unlike CtOS in the works; the different elements of the city may not be synced, but there are systems like that.”

With regards to the importance of South Africa to Ubisoft, Belanger said that SA holds relevance to Ubisoft. “The fact that I’m here, and that I have an important role in production, is a strong statement to Ubisoft’s dedication to SA.”

Megarom Interactive has announced the South African release date for Watch Dogs – 22 November 2013 on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows PC, and WiiU.

The game will also be available for PS4 and Xbox One after the consoles launch.

More Watch Dog news:

Watch Dogs 14-minute gameplay video released

See Watch Dogs multiplayer in action

Watch Dogs E3 trailer leaks

Watch Dogs release date, collector’s editions revealed

Watch Dogs trailer highlights hacking skills