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Ubisoft has unveiled a new online open world RPG based in the Tom Clancy universe called The Division.
The title is in development at Ubisoft Massive, which the publisher acquired in 2008. The studio has been at work on the game since 2009.
The Division takes place during a national pandemic in the US, at which point the government implements Directive 51, aimed at stopping society from completely collapsing. Players take on the role of special sleeper agents, tasked with stopping such a fall from happening.
The game will take place in a persistent online world, and can be played in single player or as a multiplayer. Massive MD David Polfeldt said however that the game experience would be better if players teamed up with others.
“To me all the interesting things happen because you’re in a place with other players as well,” he said.
The game will be released on Xbox One and PS4.
As well as appearing on next-gen consoles, the title will also have a companion app released on mobile. In the mobile app, users can interact with console players by taking control of a drone, which can provide air surveillance to help console game players form new strategies to take on their enemies.
Mobile game players can also gradually level up their drone with better equipment and weapons that will have a direct effect on the console experience.
Speaking to Develop, Polfeldt said that Massive wanted to create a “meaningful” experience on mobile, rather than just a typical companion up that had no effect on the main game.
“One of the challenges we were interested in was creating a companion game,” he said.
“To me, many of the companion games are mostly gimmicks, they prove that I can connect my device to your device, and after five minutes you’re like, but is it meaningful, apart from the fact that it’s connected?
“One of my fears with this E3 is that we’ll see a lot of gimmicky companion games and gimmicky announcements that are like ‘wow, everything is connected’. And then your [reaction is] ‘so what?’
“So we decided to create a companion game and we set this challenge for ourselves that it needs to be really meaningful and fun for the person on the pad, and really meaningful and helpful for the people on the HD experience.”
You can read our roundtable interview with Ubisoft Massive MD David Polfeldt on Tom Clancy’s The Division here.
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