The Division 2, a curious coincidence between the new mode and the conflict in Ukraine
The Division 2
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been going on for over a month now and the situation is becoming increasingly critical. The conflict has sparked reactions around the world and generated various gestures of solidarity. We talked at length about the initiatives of producers and developers such as Epic Games, CD Projekt Red, Remedy Entertainment and the like, who took sides in raising funds for the victims of the war. Today, however, we will talk about a curious coincidence that occurred in The Division 2 and which, in some ways, refers to the horrors of war that we try to play down as much as possible.The Division 2 is now released way back in 2019 and many players have already abandoned its servers. However, Ubisoft hasn't stopped supporting its title yet and is constantly working to deliver new content. Among the latest, we find a DLC in which hostile forces will try to take control of a nuclear power plant. Obviously, the reference to Ukraine and Chernobyl is evident to all and, when compared to the devastated scenarios that characterize the title, it makes us think a bit. Obviously, this is a mere coincidence, and Ubisoft itself has claimed to be working on this additional content as early as 2021, long before the conflict broke out.
Today, we have an important update from The Division 2 Development Team to share with you! pic.twitter.com/R6kJKQyCjd
- The Division 2 (@TheDivisionGame) March 30, 2022
This silence was broken on March 30, when on the his Twitter account, Ubisoft has announced the start of Season 9 for The Division 2, the first of the fourth year. The tweet reads the statements according to which the team reserves the right not to release further details on the content of the update due to the delicate world situation. Countdown mode was tested by some players on April 1st and will soon be available to everyone.
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The Division 2 is “live again!”
The next season of The Division 2 is coming soon. After a long dormant period, Ubisoft has announced that the PTS for the upcoming season of the military MMO game is now available for pre-load, and will be playable tomorrow, April 1 (we’re pretty sure this isn’t a prank).
While the new season won’t hit the live servers for a few days, we do have some patch notes for the PTS. The new season will feature a new game mode called Countdown, which has eight players take on various PvE objectives in a timed mission on a “new unique map.” You’ll be able to join a team through matchmaking, and the mode has new gear and weapon drops associated with it.
There’s also a new system called expertise, which allows characters to gain experience with specific weapons, gear sets, and skill variants. The idea is that you’ll gain proficiency ranks in any eligible item type by using that item (or skill), and when you’ve maxed out your proficiency rank on that item, you’ll be able to increase the grade of individual items of that type. You agent’s overall expertise level goes up as you gain proficiency ranks across items.
The update also includes some new gear and exotic weapons. There’s Dread Edict, an exotic version of the SVD sniper rifle that adds up to 20 stacks of increased weapon and headshot damage on enemies you hit. Reloading clears the stacks and grants you 5% of your total max armour value for each stack cleared. You can keep stacking by hitting headshots, since these refill Dread Edict’s magazine.
There’s also Bluescreen, the exotic version of the Stoner LMG, which allows you to shoot marked enemies to add pulse effects to your combat skills.
Division creative director Yannick Banchereau cautions players not to expect some huge, game-changing update with the new season. “The year we’ve spent working on the game in silence was not spent making one gigantic comeback update,” he says on Twitter. “It was spent organising and preparing for continuous support of the game.”
The importance of this update is not in its size, but in it heralding a return to normal with more to come after that. If this update doesn’t contain the changes or content you were hoping for, just remember that there are more updates coming throughout the year. 2/3
— Yannick B (@yannickbch) March 31, 2022
Banchereau says, however, that the patch does signal a ‘return to normal’ for The Division 2.
“For now, I hope we can all share a happy moment and rejoice that support for the game is resuming,” he says. “We’re live again!”
We’re still waiting, of course, for more news on the follow-up, The Division Heartland.
