The Division set for an early 2016 release
Unannounced "triple-A title" teased for same window.
Ubisoft's upcoming post-apocalyptic survival game, Tom Clancy's The Division, has been delayed. It's now targeting an early 2016 release, Ubisoft revealed in its most recent financial report.
The publisher's report stated that The Division is due out in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2016, which is the quarter ending 31st March 2016.
Previously, it was one of our most anticipated titles of 2014. Our Martin Robinson last took a look at The Division in October, wherein he found a lot to like about it, but also a fair amount of concerns given how little is known about the full game.
"We believe we have a great title in our hands and we are giving additional time to our developers to fully fulfill their creative vision," a Ubisoft spokesperson told Eurogamer. "This decision proved right on Watch Dogs which clearly outperformed the targets we had set up for its original FY14 launch more than compensating for the extra development costs incurred."
Here's what Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot said of the delay on the financial call:
"What you need to know, it's an RPG online game. Those games take more time to be completed and we want to make sure we have enough feedback from consumers from alpha and betas to polish it as much as possible before the launch so it comes to the market with the best possible experience.
"We expect less sales in the financial year than if it would have launched in the Christmas season, but on the whole we expect as much sales over its lifespan."
Last week Ubisoft announced that its Ubisoft Annecy studio (formerly Ubisoft Simulations) would be collaborating with central developer Massive Entertainment on The Division. Previously, Ubisoft Annecy worked on the multiplayer components of the last few Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell games.
The Crew developer Ubisoft Reflections and Red Storm, the co-developer on Far Cry 3 and 4, are also working on The Division.
Furthermore, Ubisoft teased an unannounced "triple-A" title set for release during the same window as The Division.
When posting its outlook for the year to come, the publisher said its sales will be led by: "The upcoming releases of the latest opuses of the Assassin's Creed and Just Dance franchises as well as Tom Clancy's The Division, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege and another triple-A title that has not yet been announced. Overall revenue from newly-released games is expected to be lower than in 2014-15."
Now what could that unnamed game be? *Crosses fingers for Beyond Good & Evil 2.*
