'The Division 2' Release Date: Solo Play and Improved Experience Anticipated

Ubisoft unveiled “The Division 2,” the sequel to its online action role-playing video game “The Division” at E3 2018. Developers have stated that this upcoming entry to the Tom Clancy brand will be bringing a much-improved experience for its players through the lessons they have learned from the development and lifespan of the first game.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun (RPS) described “The Division 2” map to be at least 20 percent bigger than the size of New York in the previous game. Aside from the larger playing area, the sequel also moves the game's setting from New York to Washington D.C. Events in the sequel are stated to happen six months after the outbreak in the original "The Division".

The publication also reported that the developers have announced a year's worth of free downloadable content (DLC) for "The Division 2". The DLC will contain additional story details, additional locations for exploration and looting, and more quests for players to tackle in groups or solo.

While the new game is to be set in a political location, RPS noted that the developers are not making a political statement by moving the sequel's setting to Washington D.C.

In addition, three new specializations are unlocked when the campaign is finished. The Sharpshooter, The Demolitionist, and The Survivalist. Each of the class specializations has its own particular gameplay experience focus such as long-range combat for the Sharpshooter. Further details on the specialization classes can be viewed on Ubisoft's website.

The developers have noted that these specialization classes are not fixed, and players can switch out of them when needed. Players can essentially explore all three classes with the same character easily.

In an interview with AusGamers, game director Mathias Karlson talks about how "The Division 2" can be played alone all the way to the end game. While the games have been designed with cooperation and group play in mind, “The Division 2” aims to provide solo players with a chance to experience what the game has to offer even if allies are not available to help them. This was a common complaint against the first game in the series. While excitement has been reported about the attention the game's single-player experience is getting, the same story campaign can still be played cooperatively with other players, and new multiplayer content has also been announced.

One of the new multiplayer-focused features of “The Division 2” will be the availability of Raids. Raids are dungeon-styled map events that encourage players to create teams to take out a boss at the end of the raid, similar to the raid events in other MMO games such as "World of Warcraft."

The developers have also talked about the return of Dark Zones. It is noted that the Dark Zones which will appear in "The Division 2" will be tweaked for a more balanced player experience.

"The Division 2" is set for release on March 15, 2019. While the game's release is still more than half a year away, interested players can already sign up on Ubisoft's website to join the beta test of the game.