UbisoftannouncedThe Division 2earlier this week, finally confirming that the much-rumored sequel is in development at Massive Entertainment (with support from several other Ubisoft development teams). The company also hosted a community livestream about the franchise where it touched upon the motivation behind makingThe Division 2and how far development on the game has come.
During the stream,The Divisioncreative director Justin Gerighty revealed thatThe Division 2has been in development since before the first game even released. The team began to discuss concepts for the second game beforeThe Divisionlaunched and then a small team at the studio began to properly work on the follow-up “pretty much the month after.” WithThe Divisionhaving released in March 2016, that would mean thatThe Division 2has been in development for a little over two years.
This is good news for fans who are eager to see what other concepts Gerighty and Co. had in mind for the series' future. Although Ubisoft’s initial announcement did not confirm a release window for the game, some have speculated thatThe Division 2could be released in March 2019, which would be three years after the original launched. Three years could be long enough for Massive Entertainment and the other studios to complete work on the game, making an early 2019 release date all the more likely.
Many fans would argue that three years gives Massive long enough time to address the issues players had with the firstDivisionand to make sure that they don’t happen withThe Division 2. One particular criticism of the first game was that it had a huge hacking problem, with one professional game networking expert suggesting thatfixing the hacking problemswould take a complete rewrite. Many players ofThe Divisionsuggested that the game’s rampant hacking was why they chose to stop playing the game but perhaps the developers will be able to include better anti-hacking solutions inThe Division 2’s foundations.
Moreover, some players complained that they were unsatisfied withThe Division’s core gameplay experience, which led the developers todelay the game’s DLC expansionsin order to fix them. Massive Entertainment has surely learned its lesson from that situation and the teams will be able to bring that experience into the development process ofThe Division 2, spending the two years+ development cycle wisely.
The Division 2is currently in development. A release date and platforms have not yet been announced.
