The Division 2, two years later

The Division 2 was released on March 12, 2019, making it just over two years old this week. A lot has happened in that time. Multiple updates, changes, bugs, controversies, teasers, puzzles and more. This is what has happened since then The Division 2 came out.

• Even before The Division 2 ‘s 2019 release, it started stirring controversy when Ubisoft attempted to position the game as non-political. Still, the game was set in Washington DC and would market itself with political images and messages(And the game featured tons political storylines and loreAll of this made the promises that it wasn’t political feel like one strange lie that Ubisoft was selling to a specific group of players.
• On March 12, 2019 The Division 2 launched on Xbox One, PS4 and PC. It contained a huge map which was satisfying to discover, including museums based on real-world locations found in DC. Our first impressions of the game were positive and our review came away impressed.
• The Division 2 launch wasn’t perfect. An annoying bug prevented special abilities such as attack drones from working consistently. It was eventually patched shortly after it appearedLess annoying problems were also found, like a totally failed staircase and NPCs acting like they were possessed by demons.
• A few weeks after release, Ubisoft has updated the game and changed a lot of thingsIt also added a new endgame mission.
• As players continued to explore the game’s world, they found secrets. One, in particular, seemed to indicate a Vikings theme Assassin’s Creed gameOf course we know today, in 2021, that that hint was correct as in 2020 Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was released. Other secrets were found by players, including hidden messages that needed to be decrypted. Many of these secrets were added without everyone in the studio knowing or how they work.
• Players also saw a hidden detail that wasn’t funny or cool. A work of art found on a building had a blemish on it. Ubisoft apologized for the art as well quickly removed the word with a patch.

• In May 2019, Ubisoft added two new missions to the game. These weren’t just about combat. Instead, they had new knowledge, new areas to explore, and some puzzles to solve. They were only available to Season 1 Pass holders.
• Later in May The Division 2 ‘s first robbery has been added to the game. Controversially, it has been launched without matchmaking support after it was suggested by Ubisoft that it would have it. It was also very difficult, with the first team beating over 5 hours. Console players struggled to beat it, but eventually a few days after it was released a few teams on Xbox and PS4 have turned it off
• In June 2019, during E3, Ubisoft revealed that a later expansion for the game would let players return to New York City, the setting of the first game. About this time Ubisoft spoke with Kotaku
  and explained how they planned to fight backlash to the game.
• Also in June, a stranger lets players kill animals to earn special ammo. Ubisoft fixed this soon after it was discovered.
• In July 2019, one of the biggest updates in Division 2 history went live. It added flashlights, something players had asked for since the game launched. It also added new missions and a new way to play the raidPlayers could now choose an easier difficulty setting and match with others. This would reward players with less powerful and rare loot, but would give more people a chance to play the end game activity.
• In August we watched fucking statues. It’s weird. Also around that time, Ubisoft challenged players to find a police car with a typo. They found it quickly, but only after fans heard it was in the game at all. Before that, it had been hidden for months.
• In October, fans found a secret boss in the game. It had been in there for months, just like the police car secret, but was only found after Ubisoft teased it.
• Later in October, Ubisoft updated the game and revised the way loot and gear worked. It became easier to hunt for the gear you wanted and customize the loot you already had. While it wasn’t the most exciting update, it was a big step forward for the loot shooter.

• In December 2019, Ubisoft added some more tactical clothing after some fans complained that most clothes in the game was crazy or crazy. That month too, Ubisoft has added a gun that shoots snowballs.
• On March 2, 2020, after a bit of a drought of new content and updates, Ubisoft was released Warlords of New York CityFirst teased in E3 2019, this expansion was massive and saw players return to NYC. It shocked the way the game handled leveling, loot, and it also changed how the end game progression worked.
• A few days after the release, we took a look at the new expansion and welcomed most of the changes and the new world to explore. In addition to the new DLC, Ubisoft started with season 1 of Division 2, adding a Battle Pass system to the game and new enemy targets to hunt down over the course of a few weeks.
• Later in March, players spent hours and hours trying to track down and find all of the hidden bosses in the game. It took some work, but over a weekend they got together through Discord and solved all puzzles and killed all secret enemies.
• As March turned to April 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic began to take over the world. A doctor explained to Kotaku his experience fighting the virus in New York City, while playing at the same time The Division 2, a game about a deadly virus that killed millions of people worldwide.
• In May 2020, fans datamined The Division 2 after an update and discovered a series of files and audio clips that seemed to spoil content the following year. It also pointed to a new mode.
• The second Division 2 attack was added in July 2020. However, the race to be the first team to complete the new activity was tainted by allegations of cheating.
• In September, the leaked files found in May were found to be accurate A new game mode has been added to the game. This new mode, Summit, tasked players to make their way through 100 floors, each filled with different enemies and challenges. In October, the mode was updated to make it a bit easier for people to really finish.
• In December 2020 The Division 2 developers shared bad news about a planned event. Due to covid-19, the event, which was set to reuse an older area from the game, was canceled. Instead, some of its assets would be reworked into a smaller-scale apparel eventWe later found out that this was planned as a big crossover event with Resident Evil

• January 2021 started with big news. The developers behind The Division 1 and 2 went to work on one Star Wars gameAt the time, the players did not know what this meant The Division 2 moving forward.
• There will be a new one on 2 February Resident Evil crossover event has gone live. It featured outfits and gear based on characters from the hit horror franchise Capcom. The event was … mehBut the update that added the new clothing also unlocked the frame rate on PS5 and Xbox Series X, bringing the game to 60fps.
• In February 2021, as the fourth season of The Division 2 was packing, it felt like the game was coming to an end But Ubisoft’s CEO Yves Guillemot announced something else that month during a meeting with investors, explaining that more updates were to come. This seemed to surprise Massive, who made a statement confirming that they initially intended to wind things down after season four, but would now continue to work on the game and add more content. At that time no specific plans were given.
• Finally, earlier this month, Massive laid out some plans for how The Division 2 to be continued. While the game will receive a new mode and some major content updates, Massive warned that players should not expect this content until the end of 2021 at the earliest. In the meantime, old seasons are being replayed for players who missed them. It’s not the most exciting way to keep the game alive, but it’s better than nothing.

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And that’s where things are. It’s been a little over two years now The Division 2 released. A lot has happened, with some big ups and some big downs.

Now the popular game appears to be on life support, while Massive and Ubisoft are shifting focus to other things. But with promises of more content at a later date, it seems likely I’ll boot The Division 2 a few more times before it’s all over.