Tom Clancy's The Division is an open world shooter game that has been anticipated since its unveiling by Ubisoft at E3 2013. Since the Electronic Entertainment Expo of that year, the game has faced a lot of delays. Tom Clancy's The Division now has a release date that has been delayed until 2016.
According to Ubergizmo, it looks like Ubisoft has been working on the project very hard, and even bringing in extra help. However, it has been confirmed that Tom Clancy's The Division has been delayed in spite of all the extra work. The word comes from Ubisoft itself, who confirmed the delay during its financial earnings call today. Tom Clancy's The Division is now expected to be released in Q4 of fiscal year 2016, which will run from January through March 2016. This means that there will be no holiday release this year for the very highly anticipated game.
At least we know one of the reasons why Tom Clancy's The Division has been delayed. Ubisoft wants enough time to ensure that enough feedback is received from alphas and betas before the title comes to the market. Techno Buffalo also reports that Ubisoft is working on an unnamed big-budget game with a similar time frame, but it didn't mention anything about what style of game or if it is part of some already existing franchise.
It was predicted that Tom Clancy's The Division would have an alpha. The news of the public alpha comes from IGN, a very reputable gaming site. Apparently, some fans on Reddit discovered some details on the official game's website, suggesting the Ubisoft is readying a public alpha test. This evidence is found buried within the website's HTML files, and there is a link to an alpha section, but you really have to be digging to find it. For those not familiar with alpha testing, it is when software is tested, usually by developers or manufacturers, or, as looks to be the case with Tom Clancy's The Division, sometimes the general public.
According to IGN, Tom Clancy's The Division takes place in New York three weeks after a lethal virus is released on Black Friday. Society falls and the President activates The Division, a top-secret unit of self-supporting tactical agents. Division agents are trained to operate independently of command, and players will delve into the world of fallen New York City, which has been overrun by clans willing to do anything to survive. The gameplay involves exploring through New York through very familiar landmarks, and there will be a lot of third-party shooting.
In addition to the excellent gameplay and story, Tom Clancy's The Division includes "revolutionary companion gaming". This enables the player to join friends in real-time gameplay with exclusive characters on a smartphone or tablet. This application allows the player to have a bird's-eye view of the battlefield, giving him or her ability to attack enemies as well as place targets for allies. I'm not certain if the "revolutionary companion gaming" is a first for Tom Clancy's The Division, but it certainly sounds like something that could be a new gaming standard. There is even a report on realistic snow that will stick to the player and will melt when the player goes indoors.
This would be the first time that Tom Clancy has tackled anything in the post-apocalyptic genre, which is quite common in most video games and other science fiction franchises. Tom Clancy, an author who passed away on October 1, 2013, left behind a legacy of novels that are most famous for introducing the now iconic character of Jack Ryan. In addition to his book contributions, he has inspired a video game series known as Rainbow Six, about a counter-terrorist unit focusing on teamplay and realism. There is another video game in that franchise which is pending release known as Rainbow Six Siege, and it also has an unknown release date.
The issue of the release date with Tom Clancy's The Division is a sad delay, but it is common in video games. Often a company needs time to create a better game rather than a game they can put on the shelf. Considering all the hard work that is being given to Tom Clancy's The Division, it looks like it will be quite something.
