Ubisoft is well known for adding easter eggs into its games that tie them back to other franchises made by the company. Most notably is the constant references made between the Assassin’s Creed lore and Watch Dogs.
While the two feature considerably different timelines for the main portions of their games, Assassin’s Creed has the luxury of existing in the past and future, thanks to Animus machines.
The first sighting of these easter eggs originates from Watch Dogs, where players have the option to find Olivier Garneau. When they read his background information, it reveals he is the CEO of Abstergo Entertainment, and even has a mission set around him.
During the mission, called Requiescat in Pace (another clear reference), Garneau eventually gets away, but is scanned as “Targeted by the Brotherhood. The CEO also appears in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, interacting with the player during a modern-day sequence. It is later noted that he travels to Chicago (Watch Dogs’ setting), in which he mysteriously disappears.
There are plenty of other references throughout both series, including Black Flag references to the later revealed Watch Dogs 2 antagonist, Blume. Many believe these are all irrefutable proof that the two series exist in the same world, yet Ubisoft has claimed multiple times they are simply cheery nods to the other games.
Yet, at the same time, the Assassin’s Creed: Origins easter egg adds a lot more validity to the claims that the two share the same EU. Not only does the easter egg reveal what happens to Garneau – revealed after players look through former Aabstergo employee computers in modern day – it shows the shooter is none other than Aiden Pierce.
The image is pretty clearly the infamous Chicago hacker, featuring his trademark coat, hat, bandana, and jacket, but does it have any significance outside of another neat tie in? Only Ubisoft knows for sure.