The Division Will Have Three Paid Expansions, Included With Season Pass

[Lizzy Finnegan]

The Division Will Have Three Paid Expansions, Included With Season Pass


Ubisoft has outlined the post-launch content plan for The Division.

The beta for upcoming open-world, apocalyptic multiplayer shooter Tom Clancy's The Division launched for Xbox One players today [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/165900-The-Division-Beta-Dates-Revealed#&gid=gallery_5413&pid=1] - with PC and PlayStation 4 owners able to get in on the action tomorrow. So this seems like the perfect time for Ubisoft to drop some more information about the game, and that has come in the form of detailing the plans for post-launch content.

Three paid expansions will be made available for The Division over the course of the next year. The first, Underground, "opens up a new area to players as they explore the uncharted underworld of New York City with up to 3 friends for intense co-op action." In the second expansion, Survival, "players will have to survive as long as possible in a very hostile environment that will challenge even the most talented agents." No information has been provided on the third expansion, Last Stand.

All three expansions are included as part of The Division's Season Pass, along with an exclusive sawed-off shotgun, a full set of outfits and weapon skins, and "special monthly benefits including exclusive content drops and special events." The Season Pass is included with the Gold and Sleeper Agent Editions of the game, or can be purchased separately when the game releases. No price point has been given at this time.

The post also touches on regular updates, free updates and new features, including game modes.

The Division is set to release on March 8, 2016, on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

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[Neurotic Void Melody]

Ahhh...so that's what that seemingly unprovoked previous announcement of "guiiis, mid Manhattan is totally massive and well worth the AAA price of a full game and it's all that you're getting in the base game. But did we mention massive?? Or perfectly fine, just leave us alone with our reasonable business decisions why don't you!" *subtley slips season pass purchase option into drink* ...was for! It all makes sense now.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Ugh... "Content plan". In ye olden days a content plan was 'make game. release game'. Now? I don't really know what the fuck "content plan" means... especially when it's talked up before a game's, y'know, content [which was presumably also planned] is even fully released.

Given what I've heard and seen up to this point I had no interest in The Division anyway, but hearing stuff like this just makes me more hostile towards it. Well, rather it confirms my indifference towards it.

 

[Jeteye]

Have fun with that Ubisoft. I will be taking my money elsewhere.

 

[Erttheking]

Fucking Christ, again? My interest in the game was only middling to begin with, looked a little too much like Destiny. This is turning me off certainly.

 

[XenoScifi]

"No price was given"

$60 base game + $60 season pass is the industry standard for AAA publishers these days. I'm glad this article came out, because I was almost thinking about this title...too bad I forgot Ubisoft is Ubisoft. Plus I really didn't want to install their client on top of all this. Easy decision for some of us whether we are buying this title or not.

 

[Paragon Fury]

"Uncharted underground of NYC".

Uncharted? We BUILT IT. HOW THE HELL DOES THAT WORK?

 

[Dominic Crossman]

Fucking Christ, again? My interest in the game was only middling to begin with, looked a little too much like Destiny. This is turning me off certainly.

It's a AAA game, of course there's going to dlc, just wait until they introduce microtransitions into it, then you can truly get pissed (unfortunately not joking)

"Uncharted underground of NYC".

Uncharted? We BUILT IT. HOW THE HELL DOES THAT WORK?

My reaction exactly.

 

[Seracen]

You know, I'm fine with DLC, I'm even fine, in theory, with the Season Pass. But can't they wait just a freaking month after launch before announcing this crap? People are automatically going to feel like stuff was held back at launch.

And yes, I'm sure that the logic is that most people will "forget after a month," but that says more about their lack of faith in the product, more than natural sales that are diminishing. Moreover, they should be making money off the main product anyway, and the rest should be gravy. However, don't give me the damn gravy until after I've gotten my steak...

[insert further food metaphor = poor value]

It's sad, b/c I am actually interested in this. Unless they can prove to me that this is legit DLC, and not a hack-and-resell cash grab, I will now likely wait for a definitive edition...

 

[Metalrocks]

not very surprising. had some interest in this game but now i know i can keep my fingers of it. saw the hour play time from angry joe and it does look good actually. but then joe him self was rather neutral towards it when he gave his final opinion for the few hours he was able to play.
fine whit me actually. just got rise but cant play it since im moving away and my gaming rig is all packed up. my laptop here isnt good for gaming. also still resident evil zero and AC syndicate i have to play.

 

[Goliath100]

Fucking Christ, again? My interest in the game was only middling to begin with, looked a little too much like Destiny. This is turning me off certainly.

Destiny is the game this remind you of? To me it looks like Metro, but more generic.

 

[scotth266]

Season Pass? Into the trash it goes.

I'm a big fan of the older expansion pack model, and seeing people attempt to market season passes as being worth it when you don't even know what you're going to get half the time is just baffling. At least with an xpac you have the whole thing come out at once, everyone knows exactly what's going to be in it, and whether it's worth the price becomes apparently very quickly. Season Passes also encourage "modular" or "chunky" game design where things feel cobbled-together (so the season pass content can be seamlessly inserted later). In general, the whole practice feels damaging rather than constructive.

I get that it's probably great financially for the studios, who've fallen in love with preorder culture and the benefits of selling stuff upfront to pay for development costs, but I loathe it to its core.

 

[chikusho]

Ugh... "Content plan". In ye olden days a content plan was 'make game. release game'. Now? I don't really know what the fuck "content plan" means... especially when it's talked up before a game's, y'know, content [which was presumably also planned] is even fully released.

Given what I've heard and seen up to this point I had no interest in The Division anyway, but hearing stuff like this just makes me more hostile towards it. Well, rather it confirms my indifference towards it.

You do realize that "make game. release game." for video games hasn't been true since like, the late eighties, right?

The content plan, as well as announcements like this, works to let players know that the game will be supported after release. It's not a one and done thing, because that's not the purpose of the product. It's supposed to be enganging and expanded upon for a long time afterwards. And that's a good thing to know before going in.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

"Uncharted underground of NYC".

Uncharted? We BUILT IT. HOW THE HELL DOES THAT WORK?

New York City has lain miles upon miles of sewers, storm drains, water supply pipes and whatnot over the last 150+ years. Parts of those have been decommissioned for decades.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if during all that time some plans and maps haven't been lost to bureaucracy or accidents, or simply forgotten about, buried in some archive somewhere.

And that's real life New York, not the fictionalized, post-apocalyptic version in this game where a lot more of that documentation has most likely been lost, not to mention what might have happened to the actual underground itself (tunnel collapses, flooding, ...)

edit: ah, just noticed someone beat me to it.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

You do realize that "make game. release game." for video games hasn't been true since like, the late eighties, right?

The content plan, as well as announcements like this, works to let players know that the game will be supported after release. It's not a one and done thing, because that's not the purpose of the product. It's supposed to be enganging and expanded upon for a long time afterwards. And that's a good thing to know before going in.

I was being a tad facetious, if you didn't notice. Then again, so were you, seemingly? Make game/release game was the default model throughout the '90's and into the early 2000's.

But do you see bullshit like--- All three expansions are included as part of The Division's Season Pass, along with an exclusive sawed-off shotgun, a full set of outfits and weapon skins, and "special monthly benefits including exclusive content drops and special events" ---as a positive? It's that culture of gaming which major publishers have fostered/poisoned, and frankly they can all go fuck themselves. Supporting an IP [for everyone] post-launch is one thing, basically telling the customer they'll need to spend a colossal amount of money to actually get a 'complete' product whilst partitioning a userbase into tiers is quite another.

And oh look, the game also features a preorder bonus... It's like a quintessential modern game by a triple-A publisher.

 

[Areloch]

You do realize that "make game. release game." for video games hasn't been true since like, the late eighties, right?

The content plan, as well as announcements like this, works to let players know that the game will be supported after release. It's not a one and done thing, because that's not the purpose of the product. It's supposed to be enganging and expanded upon for a long time afterwards. And that's a good thing to know before going in.

I was being a tad facetious, if you didn't notice. Then again, so were you, seemingly? Make game/release game was the default model throughout the '90's and into the early 2000's.

But do you see bullshit like--- All three expansions are included as part of The Division's Season Pass, along with an exclusive sawed-off shotgun, a full set of outfits and weapon skins, and "special monthly benefits including exclusive content drops and special events" ---as a positive? It's that culture of gaming which major publishers have fostered/poisoned, and frankly they can all go fuck themselves. Supporting an IP [for everyone] post-launch is one thing, basically telling the customer they'll need to spend a colossal amount of money to actually get a 'complete' product whilst partitioning a userbase into tiers is quite another.

And oh look, the game also features a preorder bonus... It's like a quintessential modern game by a triple-A publisher.

Of course, you could just not get the season pass if you're disinclined to it. That's what I did with Borderlands 2 and I still managed to enjoy the game without being assured additional content in the future.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Of course, you could just not get the season pass if you're disinclined to it. That's what I did with Borderlands 2 and I still managed to enjoy the game without being assured additional content in the future.

Not giving an exploitative triple-A publisher my money before I know the game's any good and before I know just how it's going to be 'supported'? There's a novel thought...

Forza 4's was the last season pass I bought, so I'm already on board with that idea. The more people rejecting such business models (pre-orders very much included) the better, though.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

Can we release the game first before telling everyone who buys it early that they suck for doing it? That'd be nice!

 

[SecondPrize]

"Uncharted underground of NYC".

Uncharted? We BUILT IT. HOW THE HELL DOES THAT WORK?

Time passes, people tunnel for different reasons (sewers, subways, catacombs if you're in the old world) and don't collaborate on maps. Then institutions forget and you arrive to the point where nobody alive really knows the extent of an underground or even where the maps are stored.
OT: I was kind of interested, now I'm not. I don't pay for games twice.