"The Division Heartland": Ubisoft cancels development
16/5/2024
Translation: machine translated
"Heartland" was supposed to be set in "The Division" universe. But that has come to nothing. Ubisoft has cancelled the game. The company wants to focus on more profitable brands.
On Wednesday, Ubisoft announced the cancellation of "The Division Heartland" when it announced its business figures. The development of the 2021 announced game has been stopped as part of planned cost savings. The resources freed up are to be used for other projects that can generate more profits. Ubisoft explicitly mentions "XDefiant" and "Rainbow Six".
"Heartland" was due to be released in 2021 or 2022. In April 2023, Ubisoft released a first trailer and a few weeks later, a closed beta was announced.
"Heartland" falls victim to Ubisoft's new strategy
The game was supposed to position itself as a standalone shooter in "The Division" universe. The first two parts of 'The Division', which were released in 2016 and 2019, laid the foundation for this series of games. They focus on the time immediately after and six months after the outbreak of a deadly flu pandemic. Players take on the role of a Division agent in New York and Washington, D.C., who must try to restore law and order in the post-apocalyptic, anarchic conditions.
"Heartland" was intended to shift its focus from the big cities on the US East Coast to the rural regions. It was intended as a spin-off that would be free-to-play.
In the report, Ubisoft states that it wants to rely on two pillars for profitable growth and good reusability: Open-world games such as "Assassin's Creed" and the Games-as-a-Service division. This includes "Rainbow Six". These two game series account for a large proportion of Ubisoft's profits.
What's next for "The Division"?
Fans who were looking forward to a new adventure five years after the second "The Division" game are likely to be disappointed. However, there is more content from this franchise on the way.
In September, "The Division 3" was announced in a subordinate clause, but there's no sign of it yet. For smartphone gamers, "The Division Resurgence" is due to be released this year. The game will also be free to play. You can currently register for the closed beta.
A "The Division" film starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Jennifer Chastain has also been in the pipeline for years. It is to appear on Netflix and the magazine Filmstarts gives 2026 as the year of release. However, producer Kelly McCormick stated in an interview in 2022 that the film had lost momentum due to the coronavirus pandemic: It felt too realistic and not enough like fun.
It is possible that Ubisoft will announce news about the "Division" franchise at its in-house trade fair Ubisoft Forward on 10 June.
Header image: Ubisoft
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