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The more the game gets delayed, the less fans have faith in the project, and the more likely they are to lose interest. And by continuing to delay The Division: Heartland, Ubisoft is only increasing the incline on this uphill struggle.
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The Division: Heartland already has an uphill battle ahead of its release, with its free-to-play model seeming a little controversial for those outside of the core circle of pre-established fans. For those that love The Division and its previous two entries, this looks like a solid smaller-scale spinoff, but for those who aren't already fans, the short one-minute trailer did little to bring them on board. At the Ubisoft Forward showcase in September of last year, The Division: Heartland finally debuted its first gameplay trailer, and reactions were mixed. And with every delay, more and more fans are starting to lose interest in the game, or even worse, completely forgetting about its existence altogether. Since its 2021 announcement, The Division: Heartland has received several delays, with each one pushing its slated release date back further and further. But The Division: Heartland would miss its initial release window. Quite a lot of The Division's loop revolves around grinding for better loot, and a free-to-play model that encourages long-term play would fit this well, as long as it didn't lean too heavily to pay-to-win microtransactions. For fans of The Division's gameplay loop, a free-to-play spinoff made complete sense.
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The Division: Heartland was first announced in May 2021, and its initial reception was fairly positive. RELATED: Ubisoft's Open-World Star Wars Should Take Cues From an Established TV Antagonist The Division: Heartland Is In Serious Danger of Missing the Boat Now, almost two years later, The Division: Heartland is still nowhere to be seen, and it runs the risk of missing the boat altogether. Back in 2021, Ubisoft announced its plans for the future of the franchise, a free-to-play, smaller-scale experience titled The Division: Heartland. The Division 2 has been a pretty sizable hit for the publisher, with it still receiving support four years later. But, ironically, the upcoming The Division: Heartland is actually in danger of suffering from the opposite problem.ĭebuting in 2016, The Division franchise is still a relatively new one for Ubisoft, and it feels like the series hasn't quite reached its full potential yet. But there's one franchise that Ubisoft hasn't flooded the market with too much, and that's The Division. Far Cry has lost its luster, Ghost Recon has been run into the ground, and even immensely popular franchises like Assassin's Creed aren't quite as wide-reaching as they once were.
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Over the last decade or so, Ubisoft has gone from having some of the most innovative and beloved franchises around, to having just a handful of overdone properties left.
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