Ubisoft’s latest game announcement will come as little surprise. This morning, a press release popped up revealing a sequel to Ubisoft’s newest franchise bearing the Tom Clancy name – The Division. Given how many copies Ubisoft moved with the first one, a sequel was inevitable.
Massive Entertainment is once again at the helm for The Division 2. So much for my hopes of another World in Conflict…
The development is led by Massive Entertainment and driven by close collaboration with Ubisoft Annecy, Redstorm, Reflections, Ubisoft Bucharest and Ubisoft Shanghai. The Division 2 will be based on an updated version of the Snowdrop Engine that will help us realize our ambitions for this title.
But today’s announcement doesn’t mark the end of support for The Division. An Xbox One X update is coming in April per a roadmap image from this morning’s ‘State of the Game’ livestream. Two more title updates will add two new Global Events and extra Legendary difficulty missions.
What the press release doesn’t say is when The Division 2 is coming. The answer to that question will probably come at E3.
I do wonder if Ubisoft is planning a quick turnaround from full reveal to launch. A quick look at their high-profile game release slate shows three games for 2018. Far Cry 5 (releasing this month), The Crew 2, and Skull & Bones.
Now, there is some uncertainty about the second half of 2018 that will get cleared up at E3. Will Assassin’s Creed return to an annual release schedule? I’m leaning towards no. Ubisoft is all about crafting games that can stand on their own for longer than a year. Rainbow Six Siege is the perfect execution of that plan. Two years after release and Siege is only getting bigger.
The Division didn’t quite pull a Rainbow Six Siege, but the post-game support followed the Ubisoft template.
Exploits and balance issues pushed many players away during The Division’s initial roll-out, but those issues were eventually remedied with patches. December’s 1.8 patch showed just how great The Division could be.
If you haven’t jumped into the post-apocalyptic New York City landscape in a while, now is the perfect time.
Hopefully, Ubisoft takes everything they learned during the two years after The Division’s launch and applies it to the sequel.
What do you want to see from The Division 2? New city? Battle Royale?