The Division getting a stand-alone free-to-play game called Heartland

By Joseph Yaden May 6, 2021

Ubisoft has major plans for the future of The Division franchise, starting with the reveal of Tom Clancy’s The Division Heartland, a new free-to-play game set in the same universe as the previous installments.

The new title is currently in development for consoles, PC, and cloud. It’s developed by Red Storm, one of Ubisoft’s support teams. Heartland is planned to launch by the end of next year, though there’s no firm date.

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This stand-alone game will not require players to have experienced the other entries and will “provide an all-new perspective on the universe in a new setting,” as explained via a post from Ubisoft. Players can currently sign up for the game’s test phase. Based on that signup page, it appears that Heartland will launch for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, and PS5, along with PC and cloud.

Within that same post, Ubisoft has a lot more planned, including an upcoming new original novel from publisher Aconyte that will take place after the events of The Division 2.

Ubisoft Massive and Ubisoft Bucharest are continuing to work on more content for The Division 2, with plans for a brand new game mode that is planned to launch in 2021. The company notes that a mobile version of the franchise is on the horizon as well.

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Ubisoft shared a timeline of the franchise’s upcoming plans, which includes a new Netflix film inspired by the events of the original game. It will star Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain, with an unannounced release date. In short, fans of The Division have plenty to look forward to within the next few years.

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Joseph Yaden is a freelance journalist who covers Nintendo, shooters, and horror games. He mostly covers game guides for…

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You can get a free PC Game Pass subscription via Twitch subscriptions

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The promotion works like this: If you buy two of any Twitch subs or gifts, you will get three months of PC Game Pass free of charge. Once you've made your purchase, a code will be sent to your Twitch notifications inbox for you to redeem on the Xbox site. However, you already need to be newly subscribed to PC Game Pass in order to be eligible to receive the code.

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Google recently announced that it plans to shutter its cloud gaming service Stadia in early 2023, leaving players who used it as one of their primary platforms in an awkward situation. Google already promised to refund people for their Google Stadia hardware and software purchases, but people are still losing access to games they enjoyed and save files they possibly dumped hours into. Thankfully, some developers are working on ways to help Stadia players.
The most notable studio to help Stadia players is Ubisoft, which was Google's earliest partner for the technology via an Assassin's Creed Odyssey demo. "While Stadia will shut down on January 18, 2023, we're happy to share that we're working to bring the games you own on Stadia to PC through Ubisoft Connect," Ubisoft tweeted. "We'll have more to share regarding specific details, as well as the impact for Ubisoft+ subscribers, at a later date." Thankfully, the Stadia versions of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Far Cry 6, Immortals Fenyx Rising, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2, and Watch Dogs: Legion support cross-progression, so players won't lose their save files.
https://twitter.com/UbisoftSupport/status/1575922767593078793
Ubisoft isn't the only developer to help. Developer Muse Games is giving Embr Steam codes to those who played its comedic co-op firefighting game on Stadia if they email the developer with screenshots of Embr in their Stadia library. Meanwhile, IO Interactive confirmed that it is "looking into ways for you to continue your Hitman experience on other platforms," as the World of Assassination trilogy was available on Google Stadia.
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While the shutdown of Google Stadia is disappointing for players like myself who enjoy cloud gaming, at least players will be get refunds, and in some cases get the game for a new platform.

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