Ubisoft says it needed to work on Avatar and Star Wars at the time

Specifically, Banchereau says in an interview with MP1st that The Division 2 updates were planned to end due to the studio’s obligations with other projects at the time:

Yes, the plan was after Update 12, at the end of 2020, the plan was to stop supporting the game… We started working on the Star Wars game, we have the Avatar game. Everybody’s very busy at Massive and the idea was that we just need the people on those projects.

He clarifies that this isn’t because Ubisoft thought “The Division was bad,” though after the release of the Warlords of New York DLC, the game was “probably more successful” than the publisher had anticipated.

Since Ubisoft didn’t want to pull people already assigned to other projects, it decided to team up with Ubisoft Bucharest. It took a while for the studio to learn everything about The Division 2, but he believes Year 5 content will impress fans.

Accordingly, The Division 3 is apparently not in development, though that’s not too much of a surprise considering that they have plenty of work to do with The Division Heartland and The Division Resurgence.

The post The Division 2 Support Was Meant to End Two Years After Release appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Ubisoft’s Division Day livestream date and details

As noted by an official tweet, the Division Day showcase will start on Thursday, April 20 at 11 AM PDT / 8 PM CEST / 2 PM EDT. You can catch the livestream either on Ubisoft’s Twitch or YouTube channel.

The showcase will cover The Division 2’s Year 5 Roadmap and the new Descent game mode, a roguelike mode with four players where the team has to start from scratch and try to reach the next room.

There will also be a gameplay preview of The Division Heartland, which was unveiled at the Ubisoft Forward event in September 2022. It is a free-to-play survival action shooter that takes place in the heartland of the US and is developed by Ubisoft Red Storm.

Last but not least, the showcase will also reveal a project update for The Division Resurgence, a free-to-play version of the series on mobile. Hopefully, we’ll also get an update of The Division Netflix movie with Jessica Chastain and Jake Gyllenhaal, as it’s been in production for years at this point without a substantial update.

The post Ubisoft’s ‘Division Day’ Showcase Start Date and Time Announced appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

The Division 3 is not in prior report of Ubisoft releases this year

While a sequel to The Division 2 is not in development, according to anonymous sources who are “close to the company” speaking with Insider Gaming, the next major update for the game is still scheduled. However, this update is “currently behind” because of game-breaking bugs. Specifically, Ubisoft stated in an official tweet on February 9 that there was “an error that brought down the build generation system” for the game that will require the system to be rebuilt.

This means that fans of The Division series will likely need to stick with The Division 2 for at least the next three years, given the long development cycle for AAA games these days. The game is currently in Season 10, called Price of Power, which comes with Legendary difficulty for several strongholds and a new endgame mode called Countdown.

This report falls in line with another one in January that said Ubisoft is still planning to release five or more PS5 games by March 2024. Those include Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Skull and Bones, xDefiant, and Tom Clancy’s The Division Heartland. The Division 3 was not mentioned in this short list then, leading to speculation that it was missing or could have been pushed to a later date, but it looks like the game isn’t even in development.

The post The Division 3 Is Not in Development by Ubisoft – Report appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

The Division 2 Title Update 16.1 Patch Notes

The Division 2 title update 16.1 has significantly reduced the efficiency of the Shrapnel Trap instead of removing it altogether. The trap was being abused by players while it was overpowered, but this solution is only temporary while Ubisoft Massive comes up with a better solution. You can see all of the bug fixes and quality of live improvements in the patch notes below.

PVP 

• As a temporary solution, we decided to significantly reduce Shrapnel Trap efficiency in PvP to dissuade players from using it.

STORE

• Fixed an issue where Premium Credits were spent instead of Textiles when buying from the in-game store.
• Fixed an issue where “Add” and “Remove” options would appear when attempting to buy items more expensive than the premium credits balance.

LEGENDARY STRONGHOLD  

• Reduced the HP of the Tidal Basin Legendary Stronghold Boss weak points.

GEAR 

• Fixed an issue where the Doctor Home Exotic rifle is not working in PvP.
• Fixed an issue where All High-End Assault Rifles had Rifle damage as a Core Attribute.
• Fixed an issue where the Closer and Uzina Getica Gear Brand Set chest pieces were missing an attribute roll.
• Fixed an issue where Dye slots weren’t functional on gear pieces from the Umbra Initiative Gear Set and Brazos de Arcabuz Brand Set.

EXPERTISE  

• Fixed an issue where the Doctor Home Exotic rifle does not have a proficiency rank.
• Fixed an issue where Busy Little Bee had two icons in the Expertise Pistols category.

UI & VISUAL

• Fixed an issue where the “Show the Signature Weapon” Option is reset to default every time the user changes server.
• Fixed an issue where the primary weapon skins rewards visuals would stretch outside of the Season 10 Reward Tracker.
• Fixed an issue where the active event text from the Season menu overlaps with Progression when hovering it in the pause menu.
• Fixed an issue where text is present in the Main Menu Season Option for Manhunt Target Events on locales: Spanish, Latin-American Spanish, Traditional Chinese and Korean.
• Fixed an issue where the Screen/Image displayed on the “Expertise Table” section of the Tutorial was not localized in Brazilian Portuguese but in Italian.
• Fixed an issue where multiple weapon skin previews would not display properly in the apparel menu or on the weapons.
• Fixed an issue where the Season 10 Unique Weapon skins have small icons in the Apparel Menu.
• Fixed an issue where the icon for the Tendrils unique weapon skin was missing the drum mag.
• Fixed an issue where the “Fast Travel to Seasons Vendor” button could be used to start the “Initiate Fast Travel” animation while inside submenus that don’t have this button present.
• Fixed an issue where the Season Pass for Season 10: Price of Power was blurry.

APPAREL ITEMS   

• Fixed an issue where Apparel Items from Dark Path would drop as gear items.
• Fixed an issue where the Maintenance Shirt would clip with various pants from the store.
• Fixed an issue where the LED Pants icon from the Apparel Menu does not match the in-game pants.

MISC 

• Fixed an issue where Legacy or Season 9 Hidden Alliance caches are rewarded instead of Season 10 Price of Power caches for Leagues.

The update was released today despite the postponement of the accompanying Apparel Event, which was delayed to “secure quality.” A new start date will be given soon. In the meantime, the Polarity Switch Global Event has begun where players can engage enemies of the same polarity to inflict increased damage.

In other news, a new Ninja Gaiden game could be outsourced to a different developer than Team Ninja. Elsewhere, the GTA 6 hacker has pleaded not guilty to computer misuse criminal charges.

The post The Division 2 September Update Released After Apparel Event Delayed appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

What’s in the Street Activation Apparel Event?

The Street Activation Apparel Event features 27 new apparel items to grab through Event Caches. These are six full cosmetic outfits — Carcosa, Encounter, Such Free, Smile, LED, and Lucky — as well as three masks and three backpacks. Players get a key to a cache for gaining four SHD levels or by purchasing them with Premium currency. Those who have purchased the Season 9 Pass will be gifted three keys too. Players will be able to earn keys until August 30, although they have until September 6 to spend them. Those missing items on September 6 will then be able to purchase them from the in-game store.

As well as starting the Street Activation Apparel Event, The Division 2 Title Update 15.4 has fixed a few issues with Manhunt as well as days 2, 3, and 4 being locked in the Reanimated Global Event. You can read the full Title Update 15.4 patch notes below:

PC STABILITY ISSUES

• Improved stability: fixed the most predominant client crash. We continue working on optimizing the game on PC.

MANHUNT

• Fixed the issue with the climax mission progression halting after the first wave of NPCs.
• Fixed the issue with Captain Lewis not spawning if the first wave of NPSs is eliminated too fast.
• Killing Private Connor too fast will no longer halt the progress of the mission.
• Fixed the issue with two Agent Kelso’s being present in the Base of Operations basement if player completes the “Prime Target” mission without turning in all decryption keys.

GLOBAL EVENT

• Fixed the issue with days 2, 3 and 4 being locked in the Reanimated Global Event.

BLUEPRINTS

• Fixed the issue with the Season 9 Exotic blueprints missing the “Items required” requirement.
• Fixed the issue with the reconfigure blueprints for the three new Exotics being listed at the bottom of the list: the blueprints for the newest items should appear at the top part of the list now.

EXPERTISE

• Fixed the issue with the 0/0 Exotic Components upgrade requirement needing one Exotic Component for upgrade of Gear Expertise levels.

UI & LOCALIZATION

• Fixed incorrect translation from Spanish.
• Fixed minor UI issues.

OTHER

• Fixed the issue with the Raid checkpoint system not working as designed even though the alert “Checkpoint reached” appeared after the boss is eliminated.

In other news, Take-Two Interactive has promised GTA 6 will set creative benchmarks. Elsewhere, a renowned leaker has teased a new Alone In The Dark game.

The post The Division 2 Update Kicks Off the Street Activation Apparel Event appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

The Division 2 July 6 Update Patch Notes

The Division 2 got its latest update today, July 6. Despite only containing a small list of fixes, the maintenance took approximately four hours before players were able to return to the game. The fixes mainly concentrated on making sure all missing items from Inaya’s shop, the crafting station, and loot drops were put into the game, as well as fixing a couple of XP exploits. The full patch notes are below:

BLUEPRINTS & GEAR  

• Fixed an issue where the blueprints for the Dread Edict, Bluescreen and Catharsis exotics were missing from Inaya’s shop.
• Fixed an issue where The Setup and Closer did not drop with targeted loot.
• Fixed an issue where Season 9 blueprints did not appear in the Crafting Station before acquiring them.

COUNTDOWN  

• Fixed an issue where the menu would not appear when inspecting people in Countdown menu.

EXPERTISE 

• Fixed an issue where items appear as proficient despite not being at proficiency rank 10.
• Fixed a bug that allowed players to gain high amounts of proficiency XP by disrupting Parnell’s decoys in “The Tombs” mission.
• Fixed a bug that allowed the player to stack bonus expertise damage.

UI  

• Resolved the grade icon being shifted to the left on all item tiles in the inventory.
• Resolved visual stretching outside of borders with the new gear/vanity items in the Season 9 Rewards Tracker.

The next major update for The Division 2 will be Title Update 16 which is due to be introduced onto PTS in August alongside Season 10. The update will add more difficulty options to Countdown Mode, as well as other tweaks to “make it more rewarding and enjoyable.” More details on other bug fixes and gameplay improvements will be revealed in the next Special Report livestream.

Season 10 will continue the story of the Warlords of New York by introducing new Manhunt targets. The Tidal Basin and Manning National Zoo Strongholds will get Legendary difficulty, while there will also be new Apparel Events, new gear and weapons, and “updates focused on game health.” Season 10 is due to begin in August, while Season 11 will follow in December. In addition to the new Manhunt target, new Apparel Events, and new gear and weapons, Season 11 will get a new game mode that’s also due to be revealed in the aforementioned Special Report livestream.

Elsewhere in the franchise, players can continue to sign up to help with closed testing of Tom Clancy’s The Division Heartland. Finally, Ubisfot Massive promises an update later this month on The Division’s mobile game.

In other news, Skull & Bones will be the focus of the very first Ubisoft Forward Spotlight on July 7. Elsewhere, Lollipop Chainsaw is getting a remake that’s due to be released in 2023.

The post The Division 2 Latest Update Removes XP Hacks, Season 10 Arrives in August appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

The Division 2 Update for June 9 patch notes

The Division 2 June 9 Patch:

• Added the Backpacks for the Fairview Crew Apparel Event!
• Hotzone & Meltdown outfit completions will now receive mask rewards.
• Fixed an issue where a red overlay light that was present in the Apparel Event Screens.

Those looking forward to backpacks being added by the new Fairview Crew Apparel Event can now unlock them. What’s more, players completing the Hotzone and Meltdown challenges will now receive their mask rewards. Lastly, those annoyed by the red overlay light that was appearing in the Apparel Event screens will be happy to hear that the issue has been resolved.

Following the update, it seems that some players are having trouble loading back into the game. It’s possible that the game’s servers are steadily moving back up to capacity and so players are recommended to wait a little bit longer.

Those still having issues with the game should monitor the official @TheDivisionGame Twitter account for any official messaging. The developers often tweet out acknowledgements of server issues and other problems, as well as notifying players of what’s currently being worked on and if downtime will be required.

In other PlayStation news, Resident Evil 2, 3, and 7 are rumored to be releasing on PS5 soon. The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 open beta is heading to PlayStation first. God of War Ragnarok release date rumors are fueling speculations of a delay.

The post The Division 2 Update for June 9 Adds Apparel Event Backpacks, Fixes Mask Rewards, and More appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

The Division 2 update: Fairview Apparel event details

Initially due to begin on May 24, the event was pushed back a couple of times for unknown reasons before the third delay was blamed on “a major issue related to the new vanity item, the backpack.” The event has now begun today, June 7, and will run until June 27. All players who have purchased the Warlords of New York DLC and have completed the New York campaign can take part.

A total of 27 apparel items are available to collect between five different outfits: Dispatch, Hotzone, Maintenance, Meltdown, and Safety. These items appear in Event Caches that can be unlocked with Keys, and Ubisoft Massive has said players will not get duplicate apparel from the caches. Players can earn Keys by gaining four SHD levels while in game. They can also be purchased from the in-game store with Premium Credits. Every player who logs in during the event will get a free key to spend while Season 9 Pass owners are given 3 extra keys.

Once the event ends, players can still spend their earned keys until July 4. Keys can also still be purchased during this period if players don’t have enough to get all of the items. From July 5, all event items will be available for direct purchase on the in-game store. They may return in future Apparel and Legacy cache pools but this isn’t guaranteed.

As well as the apparel event, the scheduled maintenance for today made a couple of fixes. Those who were victims of the latter issue will be compensated in the near future, although the developer didn’t specify how.

• The Chill Out Mask will no longer drop.
• Fixed an issue where Expertise Upgrades would reset to 0 after joining a match in Conflict.

In other news, Bend Studio has revealed their upcoming AAA PS5 game will be set in a “whole new world“. Elsewhere, E3 will be returning in 2023 with in-person and digital events.

The post The Division 2 Update Adds The Delayed Fairview Crew Apparel Event appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

The Division 2 Title Update 15.1 Patch Notes

At the moment, Proficiency ranks gained with kill XP count double towards expertise levels. This has led to some high-level players, but Ubisoft says “allowing higher levels now will have considerable impact on the long-term balance of the game.” The way they plan to fix this is to recalculate every player’s progression and roll it back to where they feel it should be. The catch is this will affect any items upgraded too, more specifically the materials players have already invested. The developer plans to offer SHD caches as compensation for the rollback but says “it is not possible for us to grant the exact same amount of materials invested due to lack of in-game data”. As such, the Twitter thread is filled with players already becoming upset over the changes before they’ve even happened.

pic.twitter.com/sMngbkcvP6

— Tom Clancy's The Division (@TheDivisionGame) May 30, 2022

You can find a full list of all of the other bug fixes and gameplay improvements below:

GEAR & WEAPONS

• The “Bluescreen” and “Dread Edict” exotic weapons are now being displayed on the wall in the shooting range.
• Fixed an issue with the “Chill Out” mask missing Gila Guard branding.
• Fixed an issue with the “Dread Edict” Exotic SVD not stacking with the “Perfect Focus” armor talent.
• Players can no longer gain the “Disruptor Rounds” stacks by shooting wildlife and dead NPCs with the “Bluescreen” Exotic LMG.
• Fixed the pulse immunity: it is now protecting against headshots
• Fixed the issue with the headshots made with Heartbreaker set equipped giving the bonus armor even if the other player has 100% pulse resistance
• Fixed the issue with the named “Chill Out” mask not dropping from the Named Item Cache

COUNTDOWN

• Fixed an issue with players getting stuck on 100% loading screen after exiting Countdown Mode.
• Fixed an issue with the enemy NPC spawning in reactor after encounter was completed.
• Fixed an issue with the Hunters being shown as Black Tusk on the “Inspect” frame of the death screen.

EXPERTISE

• “Donate All Junk” button functionality is now fixed and should be giving the same number of materials regardless of the menu category.
• Upgrade grades are now displayed on SKILL and SIGNATURE WEAPONS in the inventory similar to Gear and Weapon items.
  • The grade is also displayed in the Expertise Menu.
• Fixed an issue with the Upgrade animation not being displayed when upgrading a SKILL or SIGNATURE WEAPON in the Expertise Menu.
• Corrected the Expertise progression so that Proficiency ranks gained with kill XP will no longer count double towards expertise levels.

SEASON 9

Rewards:

• Placeholder names are no longer present for some cosmetic premium rewards on the rewards track screen for languages other than English.

Manhunt:

• Fixed an issue where only the session owner received the encryption key after completing Manhunt in a group.
  • Players should no longer be missing the decryption key when resuming their personal progression after doing the decryption mission while in a group.
• The issue with the EMP drones in the “Hidden Alliance” Manhunt target missions having placeholder icons is now fixed.
• Fixed the issues when the investigation update does not appear on the HUD within the Manhunt investigation objectives after the Control Point completion.
• Fixed an issue with the server crashing when the player is entering a shared space while the VO from audio file is playing.
• Fixed an issue when the players do not receive a notification that the group leader cannot start a Takeover Bounty while the party members are in the mission area and the party leader is at least 100 meters away.
• Fixed an issue with the Prime Target mission objective not being updated if the players happen to stand close to the area leading to the mission’s next beat when all hostiles are eliminated.
• Fixed an issue where the Team leader would see “Activate Bounty” as an option when their teammate was in the mission area of the Takeover Bounty.

UI:

• Fixed an issue with the Assault Rifle “TKB-408” icon not being centered in the Inventory tab.

Other:

• Fixed an issue with the layer becoming invisible if they detonate the EMP sticky bomb while interacting with a ladder.

In other news, Life is Strange developer Dontnod is teasing news about their new project with Focus Entertainment for tomorrow. Elsewhere, Gran Turismo 7 Legendary car prices have increased after the latest update, leaving many fans unhappy.

The post The Division 2 Upcoming Proficiency Point Rollback Set to Cause Uproar appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

When is The Division 2 public test for the new mode?

In a post on The Division 2’s official account, Ubisoft has revealed what it calls “an important update” on the public test for the new mode that starts on April 1 at 2 AM PST (5 AM EST). Pre-loading the PTS will start the day before on March 31 at 7 AM PST (10 AM EST). It is unclear how long the PTS will run, but as they are looking for substantial feedback, it will likely stay active until the developer has sufficient data.

Today, we have an important update from The Division 2 Development Team to share with you! pic.twitter.com/R6kJKQyCjd

— Tom Clancy's The Division (@TheDivisionGame) March 30, 2022

Ubisoft also wants to clarify that the revamps to specializations that was planned for Season 9 will instead be released later in Year 4.

New content for The Division 2 had been planned for the game in 2021 after fans persuaded Ubisoft not to abandon the popular multiplayer shooter after Title Update 12. A new game mode that would be “entirely new to the franchise” was a part of that roadmap later that year. However, in late October 2021, Ubisoft Massive and Ubisoft Bucharest decided to delay the new game mode until 2022 to ensure quality content.

Some users on the official PS5 Reddit believe that this new mode is The Division Heartland, the upcoming F2P game for the franchise, but most understand that the title is a standalone game separate from The Division 2.

With any luck, the upcoming The Division 2 update will breathe new life into the game, which has been floundering for the last year with re-runs of past seasons. The new mode should stand to reinvigorate a game that had its peak as a live-service title in 2019 and 2020.

In other news, NetEase has been rumored to acquire Quantic Dream after its three-game deal with Sony completed, and The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is finally arriving on PS5 and PS4.

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