Ubisoft has announced that it’s expanding The Division‘s universe even further with more content — and an additional surprise. Today, the developer announced The Division Heartland, a free-to-play version of the game set to release on PC by the end of the year or early next. The company is also working more content for The Division 2, as well as a mobile game.
It’s quite the info dump, highlighted by the free-to-play The Division Heartland. According to a press release, the game is under development by Red Storm Entertainment. Up until lately, Red Storm has acted as a support team for The Division 1 and 2. With Heartland, it’s taking the lead on a brand new game in the series.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much to go on with Heartland’s announcement. The splash art that released alongside the reveal shows a rusted water tower surrounded by trees, with a town and windmills in the distance. A red flare is seen rocketing to the sky, clearly announcing a need for help. In the original games, both New York City and Washington DC were affected by a viral outbreak. Soon after, warlike factions took over the cities, and Division agents were sent to clean up the mess. In The Division Heartland, we’ll likely see the virus toward the midwest — aka, the “heartland” of the United States.
Ubisoft explained that you don’t need to have played the other games, and that Heartland is an “all new perspective on the universe in a new setting.”
The Division Heartland is only the next step
Heartland‘s reveal was only one part of the fairly beefy announcement. Ubisoft unveiled a timeline for its self-dubbed The Division Universe. If we’re looking at it as a step-by-step release map, then Heartland is on its way first. Following its launch, Ubisoft will release new content for The Division 2. Following that will be the mobile game, and then the novel and movie adaptations. It’s going to be a busy year for fans of the game series, that’s for damn sure.
The Division Heartland is set for a release date somewhere between late 2021 and early 2022. However, Ubisoft is allowing players to try the game early for a playtest, which you can sign up for starting today.
