Ubisoft Announces New The Division Game, Outlines Series’ Growing “Universe”

Today, Ubisoft announced a couple of new additions to the growing The Division Universe (that’s what they’re calling it, evidently), namely a new free-to-play title called Tom Clancy’s The Division Heartland.

Developed at Red Storm Studio, who are named after a Tom Clancy book and were founded by the guy himself, Heartland will be a “standalone game that doesn’t require previous experience with the series but will provide an all new perspective on the universe in a new setting.” My guess? It’s going to take place in the Heartland. Don’t tell Ubisoft, but I think I’m onto them.

Ubisoft’s article makes no mention of any more explicit details about the title, but it will apparently “be made available in 2021-2022 on PC, consoles, and cloud.” There will be test phases which players can currently sign up for.

Alongside the announcement of Heartland, Ubisoft took the time to talk about further expansions to their series’ universe, including a mobile version of The Division that will be coming later and outlining the new content they promised for The Division 2. That game proved so oddly popular that Ubisoft had to announce they would continue supporting it beyond the point they expected to stop. The new content coming will look like “an entirely new game mode” for the series and new ways to build your character. Again, vague as all hell, but that’s what they said, so don’t shoot the messenger.

Ubisoft also made passing mention of the upcoming Netflix The Division movie, which is set to star Jessica Chastain and Jake Gyllenhaal and is being helmed by The Rock’s new favorite director to work with, Rawson Marshall Thurber. As well as the movie, a novel is coming too (who would’ve thunk?), focusing on the impact of the outbreak that sets the series in motion across America.

I think it’s safe to say that The Division is becoming its own big brand for Ubisoft like previous Tom Clancy series (Mostly Splinter Cell) have in the past. These “transmedia offerings” as they call it always rub me the wrong way and begin to run dry really quick, but who’s to say how it’ll shake out. I’m also just not sure this many people really want this much of The Division. We’ll see if I’m wrong about it when all of these promises come to fruition over the next few years.