Presented by Malwarebytes
Celebrating 10 Years of Watch Dogs 2
San Diego Comic-Con 2026
SPONSORSHIP STRATEGY // PROGRAMMING // EVENT PRODUCTION
THE SNAPSHOT
EVENT
San Diego Comic-Con
LOCATION
San Diego, CA
YEAR
2026
SERVICES
Event Strategy • Programming • Sponsorship Strategy • Event Production
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Watch Dogs 2, The Mighty Hostess developed and produced a San Diego Comic-Con panel bringing together voices connected to the game and its cultural legacy.
From programming and panelist outreach to sponsorship development and production, the team built the experience over five months and ultimately welcomed more than 2,100+ attendees to the third-largest programming room at San Diego Comic-Con.
THE PANELISTS
RUFFIN PRENTISS III
Voice Actor for Marcus Holloway
SHAWN BAICHOO
Voice Actor for Wrench
HUDSON MOHAWKE
Music Composer, Watch Dogs 2
TIMMY FISHER
Co-Founder, MK12 Studios
DAVE MAASS
Researcher, EFF
MIA GINAÉ
Moderator & Founder of The Mighty Hostess LLC
THE OPPORTUNITY
How do you celebrate a game ten years later–without simply looking back?
Watch Dogs 2 (WD2) gave us an opportunity to create more than a traditional anniversary retrospective.
Its world explored ideas around technology, privacy, surveillance, activism, art, music, identity, and resistance. Themes that remain just as relevant a decade later.
The opportunity was to bring together voices from behind the game to celebrate what made it special while creating a conversation that connected its themes to the world audiences are navigating today.
In today’s world, WD2 matters more now than ever.
THE STRATEGY
The experience centered on three priorities:
Authentic voices
Meaningful conversation
Cultural relevance
Rather than creating a traditional retrospective, The Mighty Hostess built programming that used the game's anniversary as a jumping-off point for larger conversations around technology, community, and the ideas that shaped Watch Dogs 2.
CURATE
Bring together panelists who can speak authentically about the game's creation, culture, and legacy.
CONNECT
Develop conversations that connect the game's themes—from surveillance and privacy to music, art, and activism—to today.
PARTNER
Identify organizations whose work naturally intersected with the ideas explored within Watch Dogs 2.
BUILD
Create an experience for longtime fans that remains engaging and relevant to audiences discovering these conversations today.
THE PARTNERSHIP
COMMUNITY SPONSORS
ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION
Cybersecurity wasn't simply adjacent to Watch Dogs 2. It was embedded in the game's world.
With conversations about hacking, surveillance, digital privacy, and technology at the heart of both the game and the planned panel, Malwarebytes emerged as a natural potential partner.
The Mighty Hostess developed the sponsorship opportunity and secured Malwarebytes as the panel's Presenting Sponsor, creating a partnership rooted in shared subject matter and audience relevance rather than logo placement alone.
BLACK IN GAMING FOUNDATION
Cybersecurity wasn't simply adjacent to Watch Dogs 2. It was embedded in the game's world.
With conversations about hacking, surveillance, digital privacy, and technology at the heart of both the game and the planned panel, Malwarebytes emerged as a natural potential partner.
The Mighty Hostess developed the sponsorship opportunity and secured Malwarebytes as the panel's Presenting Sponsor, creating a partnership rooted in shared subject matter and audience relevance rather than logo placement alone.
PRESENTING SPONSOR
THE MIGHTY HOSTESS X MALWAREBYTES
Cybersecurity wasn't simply adjacent to Watch Dogs 2. It was embedded in the game's world. With conversations about hacking, surveillance, digital privacy, and technology at the heart of both the game and the planned panel, Malwarebytes emerged as the panel’s Presenting Sponsor.
TMH x Malwarebytes created a partnership rooted in shared subject matter and audience relevance, creating a swag giveaway campaign that mirrored items from the video game, as well as codes to Malwarebytes antivirus software and a vibrant zine that brought in real-world facts with what Watch Dogs 2 got right in their predictions, and what (thankfully) stayed science fiction.
BRANDED GIVEAWAYS
THE EXECUTION
Over five months, The Mighty Hostess managed the moving pieces required to bring the experience from an initial idea to the San Diego Comic-Con stage.
THE EXPERIENCE
2,100+ people. 5 panelists. 1 worldwide stage.
Promotional Event Flyer
Presentation Cover Slide
An unforgettable experience for fans of WD2, ten years later
THE IMPACT
2,100+
Attendees
3RD-LARGEST
Programming Room
Real World Connection
When asked the question, “What parts of Watch Dogs 2 do you wish stayed fiction?”, panelist and EFF researcher Dave Maass spoke about his work with the foundation and his research on the surge of Flock Safety ALPR cameras appearing in the United States.
His response sparked lively interaction with the audience and online, with the clip gaining 6,470 views, 180 comments, and 775 reposts on Instagram, and nearly 500k views on Facebook.
$3,800
Sponsorship Secured
Read More on EFF’s Fight Against Flock
THE TAKEAWAY
The success of Celebrating 10 Years of Watch Dogs 2 demonstrated what can happen when programming, audience, and partnership strategy are developed together.
By building the experience around the ideas that made the game meaningful and partnering with organizations authentically connected to those ideas, the panel became more than a celebration of a beloved game. It became a conversation about why its world still resonates ten years later.
