UbisoftIf you enjoy Ubisoft’s multiplayer loot-shooter The Division 2 but absolutely hate playing with other people, I’ve got some good news for you. It sounds like the game’s director isn’t totally against the idea of a story-driven, single-player title set in The Division’s universe.
TT Game’s Level Director Tim Spencer first floated the idea on Twitter, saying he loves the idea of a story in The Division universe that features an agent trying to get back home to their family after being sent to New York City to deal with the pandemic seen in the first game, pitching it as equal parts The Last of Us and The Division.
I love the idea of a single player narrative driven spin off of @TheDivisionGame. Focusing on an agent trying to get home to their family after being sent to NYC, during the SHD blackout from the fall of DC. TLOU x Division. @jgerighty
— Tim Spencer (@ThatThereTim) July 13, 2019
Spencer continued:
None of the stories have explored what a Division agent sacrifices, and what they go through mentally. When you think about it: it’s a pretty dark/epic thing – there’s huge opportunity to tell some incredible stories there. Sat here in a burrito restaurant, and all I want is a pad of postit notes and a marker pen to write down all the epic stories our agent could have, in chapters, through their long journey home during the fall of society, haunted by nightmares of what could have happened to their family, because they answered the call of the SHD, so weren’t there to protect them during the fall.
Spencer tagged The Division 2’s creative director, Julian Gerighty in the post, who then retweeted it to his own followers to gauge interest in the idea. Unsurprisingly, the majority of people seemed to be super into it.
Gerighty joked in a follow-up tweet that the idea is “apparently not something people are violently against.” Whether or not this means we really could see The Division go down the single-player narrative route in the future remains to be seen, but it’s an encouraging first step for those hoping to see such a thing become reality.
While we wait for a single-player experience to materialise, The Division 2 still has plenty to offer players for those who enjoy the franchise as it is. Episode 1 – DC Outskirts: Expeditions is a free DLC pack arriving later on this month, and comes with two new main missions, a new game mode, new gear, and two new Classified Assignments.
UbisoftIn the meantime, if you’re looking for a single-player adventure with a focus on narrative and a post-apocalyptic setting, The Last of Us Part 2 is coming…. eventually, probably. The current rumblings suggest we’ll be seeing it in early 2020.
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Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.