Summary
Ubisoft just announced that it has cancelled the upcoming free-to-play shooter The Division Heartlandthree years after having been announced.
As reported byIGN, the news broke this morning during Ubisoft’s earnings call. The company revealed that it has “redeployed resources to bigger opportunities”.
The Division Heartland–developed by Red Storm Entertainment–was delayed shortly after its announcement in 2021. Initially, it was supposed to have launched just a year later in 2022. Now, it joins Project Q and Immortals Fenyx Rising 2 in Ubisoft’s growing library of cancelled games.
What Is The Division Heartland?
Ubisoft announced The Division Heartland as a free-to-play spin-off with two main modes set in the fictional Silver Creek, a town in rural America.
The first was a PvPvE mode with 45 players where you would “fend off against agents from a rogue faction known as the Vultures while surviving a virus”. The other was Excursion Operations, a purely PvE mode in which you would “complete missions and collect loot/gear”.
The last major update was way back in April of last year, whenUbisoft shared gameplay footage revealing three new classes- Weapons Expert, Medic, and Survivalist. It also revealed that the base of operations–Rocket Rink–would be the first base of operations in the series that’s shared among players, making it so that you could easily group up with strangers and customise your characters all in one spot.
What Will Happen To Developer Red Storm Entertainment Following The Division Heartland’s Cancellation?
RSE has worked on a slew of games at Ubisoft over the years from The Division toFar Cry 3to classics like Ghost Recon and the originalRainbow Six. Thankfully, it will continue operations despite the cancellation of Heartland.
“Our priority now is to support the talented team members at our Red Storm Entertainment studio, who will be transitioning to new projects within our company, includingXDefiantand Rainbow Six [Siege],” Ubisoft wrote.
A leaker also claimed last month thatthe Watch Dogs series is “dead and buried”.
XDefiant is slated to launch later this month on May 21. It’s a free-to-play Call of Duty-like live-service shooter that pulls from all across Ubisoft’s library, with factions pulled from Far Cry,Splinter Cell, andWatch Dogsto name a few.
