Three years after saying it as “an all-new perspective” on its long-running Division sequence, Ubisoft has quietly pulled the plug on The Division: Heartland, saying it has determined to focus its efforts on different video Games as a substitute.
Particulars have been scant when The Division: Heartland was first introduced past that it will be a free-to-play “standalone sport that doesn’t require earlier expertise with the sequence.” We acquired a more in-depth look in 2023, when it was showcased as an extraction shooter with survival components, set in a small city in center America. Ubisoft mentioned on the time that developer Purple Storm was “taking a test-and-learn strategy to constructing this sport,” with participant suggestions from ongoing closed beta exams guiding improvement.
We by no means acquired an opportunity to strive The Division: Heartland ourselves, and now we by no means will: Amidst all of the hullabaloo of right this moment’s large Murderer’s Creed Shadows reveal, Ubisoft additionally revealed in a way more low-key style—which is to say, by means of a observe in its FY2023-24 earnings report—that it has cancelled the sport as a part of its ongoing effort to “streamline its operations and adapt to evolving market traits.”
“Consistent with the elevated selectivity of its investments, Ubisoft has determined to cease improvement on The Division Heartland and has redeployed sources to larger alternatives equivalent to XDefiant and Rainbow Six,” the corporate mentioned.
Rainbow Six Siege is an ongoing winner for Ubisoft, nevertheless it’s fascinating to see it put that type of weight on XDefiant’s shoulders. Regardless of a tough introduction in 2021, XDefiant seems prefer it could be fairly good, however whether or not that may translate right into a sustainable long-term viewers is a really large open query. Then again, XDefiant does have one large benefit over Heartland: It is able to go, with a pre-season launch set for Might 21.
It is also honest to say that the event of Heartland doesn’t seem to have gone particularly easily—it was initially speculated to be out someday in 2021-22—and issues on The Division entrance have modified as that concentrate on has slipped additional and additional behind. The Division 2 continues to be chugging alongside, The Division Resurgence cellular sport is predicted to reach later this yr, and a full-scale Division 3 is within the works now, too. Perhaps that is simply sufficient Division for now.
