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.

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.

The post The Division 2 Announces Public Test for “New Mode” appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Having originally decided to end post-launch content for The Division 2, the development team changed their minds after players voiced concerns. Back in March they announced that new content would include a game mode that’s “entirely new to the franchise,” as well as a new progression system and new season. All of this was due to arrive by the end of 2021 but that’s no longer the case.

The team’s statement on the delay in full reads:

Earlier this year, we shared our commitment to continue to support The Division 2 and work with new partners within Ubisoft to keep on improving the game experience for all our players. Since then, our team has been hard at work to develop exciting new content with a new game mode as well as significant endgame changes & features.

While plans were still being actively discussed at that point, it was critical for us to give you some early insights about what would come next for the game. Since then, we made various iterations on the plans and actively challenged ourselves not to compromise on quality and ambitions for this new content. This title Update will be one of our most ambitious to date.

We remain confident that this content will bring an exciting experience to our players and pave the way for the future of The Division 2 with future title updates coming in 2022. That being said, and to make sure we deliver this content on par with our vision, we have made the decision to move our new season, game mode and associated content release to February 2022.

This additional time will allow our passionate development team to deliver the best quality for this new content. Of course, we will in the meantime continue to support the game and work on most pressing live issues.

There are still no details on any of this new content, but The Intelligence Annex initiative will return and detail key features and changes on a monthly basis. The first episode is due to run on Thursday, October 28, and will explain the Specialization Revamp. These will run until the new Season, new game mode, and associated content will be revealed in January 2022.

In the meantime they detailed more immediate future plans for The Division 2. When Season 7 ends in December, an in-game event will reintroduce player-favorite global events, only this time with new rewards and an apparel event. More information will be coming on these soon.

[Source: Ubisoft]

The post The Division 2 New Game Mode and Season Delayed to 2022 to Develop the Best Quality Content appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

The main “flagship” mode in Ghost Recon Frontline is Expedition. More than 100 players are put into teams of three and sent to an island known as Drakemoor. Here they need to collect intel from three different locations by completing dynamic objectives. Once the intel is collected, that team can call for an extraction helicopter from one of three drop zones. Once an extraction is called, all other teams will be notified and can attempt to stop the extraction taking place, or even steal it for themselves. The first team to leave the island is the winner. Other game modes will also be available at launch. One of these is Control mode where two teams of nine players fight to dominate an area.

Ghost Recon Frontline has multiple unique contractor classes to suit different playstyles and these can be swapped mid-match if players feel like it. Each class has their own unique skills, consumables, and gadgets. In terms of abilities, they have an active ability, a major passive skill and two minor passive skills. Players will begin with two contractors, each of which will be part of one of three main classes: Assault, Support and Scout.

Assault is good for close-range combat, using Sensor grenades to locate enemies at close range and preventing them from regenerating health for a short period of time if the Assault contractor injures them. Support specialises in fortifications, coming equipped with cover points and auto-turrets. Scout is the recon member, using a UAV to reveal more distant enemies or even being able to airdrop into a sniper tower at key vantage points. Other classes will be available at launch.

Players can also use a “large set” of tactical support tools like auto-turrets,  smoke screen drones, and barricades, some of which can be found throughout the map. Others can be called in via the TAC Support tool as long as players have enough Requisition Points from gathering intel, hacking laptops, and taking down enemy teams. Like many other games’ battle royale maps, Drakemoor has plenty of landmarks, different biomes, and changing weather conditions that could all force players to switch up their strategy.

Ghost Recon Frontline is coming to PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Google Stadia, Amazon Luna, and PC. Ubisoft Bucharest’s game will feature cross-play between all of these platforms when it launches at an unknown date in the future. Before then, players can sign up at the game’s official website to take part in beta tests, although the first of these will be limited to PC players only.

In other Ghost Recon anniversary news, players can get Ghost Recon Wildlands’ Fallen Ghosts DLC for free from the PlayStation Store, as well as the Ghost Recon Breakpoint Deep State Adventure expansion that can be downloaded for free through the in-game store. Both are available for free for a limited period of time until October 11 to celebrate the franchise’s 20th anniversary.

[Source: Ubisoft]

The post Ghost Recon Frontline is a Free-to-Play PvP Shooter With a Different Take on Battle Royale appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

While The Division won’t be at Ubisoft Forward, Red Storm, Ubisoft Massive, and Ubisoft Bucharest assure players they’re still hard at work on the franchise. A new game mode for The Division 2 is still due to be released this year, while The Division Heartland will have more test periods for players to give the game a go before release. The full statement can be seen below:

Agents,

We wanted to share with you some information regarding the upcoming #UbiForward.

Stay tuned for future updates on the Tom Clancy’s The Division and don’t forget to sign-up for Heartland’s early test phases! >> https://t.co/CWcHgAesMX pic.twitter.com/vcy5GKUqlr

— Tom Clancy's The Division (@TheDivisionGame) June 7, 2021

One title originally expected to be announced at the show was leaked by Twitter member @Zer0Bytes0 earlier today. Several images supposedly showed a new mashup multiplayer PvP first-person shooter featuring Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, and The Divison. Reportedly called BattleCat, VGC’s sources backed up the leaked images and stated the game will be heading to PC and consoles. Two game modes were leaked: Escort and Ringleader. Escort splits players into two teams with attackers escorting a package to the delivery zone while defenders aim to stop this. Meanwhile, Ringleader tasks players with collecting rings from defeated opponents.

The posted images have since been removed due to copyright violations but did show a variety of playable characters, including Echelon from Splinter Cell, Wolves from Breakpoint, and Cleaners and Outcasts from The Division. Each of this will have a unique ability and an ultimate ability. Echelon’s unique ability will be radar stealth while Wolves will get extra armor. The Outcasts’ ultimate ability will be Divine Intervention where nearby team mates will be unable to die for a limited period of time.

VGC has since confirmed the game is in the early stages of development (testing began in January) and will not make an appearance at Ubisoft Forward. Instead, players will get to see Rainbow Six Extraction, Riders Republic, Far Cry 6, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and Rainbow Six Siege amongst others.

[Source: Twitter, VGC]

The post The Division Teams Will Not be at E3 Despite Rumors of ‘BattleCat,’ a Splinter Cell x Ghost Recon x The Division Multiplayer PvP Title appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Last month the publisher promised they would be releasing additional content this year and they were currently in the early stages of development. The main feature of that new content is a game mode that’s “entirely new to the franchise.”  Ubisoft Massive and Ubisoft Bucharest are also looking into new ways for agents to progress that introduce more “variety and viability.” Details are scarce right now, but with development due to take several months, we can expect for news closer to its release window.

In the meantime, the four previous seasons of content will be re-run. Starting tomorrow, March 9, Season 5 will begin and will be a re-run of Season 1: Shadow Tide. Leagues and Global events will be available, and it’s a perfect opportunity to pick up any of the season’s rewards you may have missed the first time. There won’t just be old events though, as new Apparel Events will be introduced throughout too.

While the game didn’t meet Ubisoft’s expectations initially, last year has more than made up for this. The franchise has now accumulated more than 40 million unique players and the highest month of activity occurred in March 2020 with the release of Warlords of New York. More stats are available in the infographic below, including some epic performances from a couple of agents:

The Division 2‘s new content is due for release in the latter part of 2021 “at the earliest.”

[Source: Ubisoft]

The post The Division 2 is Getting a New Game Mode Later This Year, Previous Seasons Will Run Again appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.