After launching in 2019, The Division 2 went on to much success, toping sales charts in its first couple of weeks thanks to its stellar reviews. While the game may have ultimately fallen short of Ubisoft's sales projections, Massive Entertainment has none-the-less continued to give players new content to explore through episodic content to continue the game's narrative as well as various updates to further improve the overall experience. In fact, a dedicated expansion called Warlords of New York picked up loose story threads from the first game, bringing back the original antagonist Aaron Keener.
Since the arrival of the 100 floor skyscraper event The Summit, content has slowed way down for The Division 2 and its players. Massive has promised that a major update would be arriving later in 2021, though for now, players will see past seasons being re-run until the new content is read to go. However, Ubisoft is clearly not finished with the world of The Division, as the publisher made a surprising announcement earlier today regarding a new game.
Citing continued fan engagement, support, and popularity of The Division franchise, Ubisoft is looking into new ways to continue expanding the universe. One way to deliver on that promise is through a new free to play game called Tom Clancy’s The Division Heartland. This latest game comes from Red Storm Entertainment, a studio that was originally founded by Tom Clancy himself and thus has plenty of experience working on games within that specific universe. The studio created many of the titles which have become major IPs for Ubisoft from classic Ghost Recon titles to Rainbow Six, and even assisting Massive on both Division games.
Unfortunately, not much else was revealed for Tom Clancy’s The Division Heartland, only that the game would be coming to PC, console, and cloud based services. Heartland is also intended to be a good starting point for players who may not be familiar with either game in the series as it won't require any previous knowledge or experience while providing an all new perspective on the game's narrative and universe from a brand new setting. Based on the subtitle, the game could very well take place in the middle parts of the United States, which is commonly referred to as the Heartland. The game also doesn't have a release date as of yet with Ubisoft indicating it'll launch "in 2021-22."
In addition to a brand new game in the series, Ubisoft is planning to create a mobile version of The Division led by Ubisoft Massive as well as taking the franchise into different forms of media as well. The press release again touched on the partnership with Netflix to create a live action film starring Jessica Chastain, Jake Gyllenhaal, and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber. Lastly, an original novel is also in production set after the events of The Division 2 and detailing how the Outbreak has impacted different regions in the US as agents continue to secure supply routes.
Tom Clancy’s The Division Heartland is in development with a planned release sometime in 2021-2022.
Source: Ubisoft