Watch Dogs 2 offers new multiplayer mode for free

“Showdown,” the multiplayer mode for Watch Dogs 2's next premium DLC expansion, No Compromise, will be pulled out and offered for free to users on all platforms on April 17, Ubisoft said yesterday.

No Compromise itself will launch on April 18 for PlayStation 4, and then May 18 on Windows PC and Xbox One. It's headlined by a series of missions pitting the protagonist, Marcus Holloway, against Russian criminals.

With Showdown being made available to all, Ubisoft will offer a series of "ability-granting outfits and vehicles, nonlethal weapons and single-player time trials" in its place in No Compromise.

Showdown offers three types of competitive matches, "Steal the HDD"; "Doomload," which is a king-of-the-hill variant; and "Erase/Protect the Servers," which is a type of domination match.

Kris Young, Watch Dogs 2's live producer, said Ubisoft Montreal elected to make the multiplayer DLC free after getting a good deal of feedback that the game's community wanted more multiplayer options.

The rest of No Compromise is included with the Watch Dogs 2 season pass plan for its post-launch DLC. Four packs are planned for that schedule, and two — T-Bone Content Bundle in December, and Human Conditions in February — have launched so far. The DLC is exclusive to PlayStation 4 for a month after it launches, then is available on the other two platforms.

For more on Watch Dogs 2, see Polygon's review.