The Division 2 has been confirmed for a fiscal year 2019 release, according to financial reporting released by Ubisoft on Thursday. That means the highly anticipated multiplayer shooter sequel from Massive Entertainment should launch between now and March 2019. A public announcement is expected to be made during Ubisoft’s E3 press conference on June 11.
It’s unclear whether Ubisoft intends to release The Division 2 early or late within the remaining months of the fiscal year, but the safe prediction would be March 2019. The Division launched in March, 2016 and had strong initial sales despite poor critical reception. However, a March 2019 launch would also position the game to directly compete with Bioware’s Anthem.
Within Ubisoft’s reporting on its fiscal year 2019 outlook, the company detailed three remaining AAA titles: The Division 2, The Crew 2, and an as-yet-unannounced title. Ubisoft is predicting the sale of 19 million units between these three games, likely with the majority of units split between The Division 2 and the unannounced project. Given the high expectations for the unannounced project, it’s likely to be a title from a major franchise like Assassin’s Creed or Far Cry. Considering those franchises typically release in the fall, it lends further to The Division 2 being an early 2019 release.
Ubisoft previously announced The Division 2 in a rather understated manner two months ago, following hints from Massive Entertainment that started in December 2017. At that point in time, Massive confirmed that The Division 2 would also be built on the Snowdrop engine that powers The Division and that the game would first be shown during E3 2018. Little else has been said about the sequel in the interim.
In development for over two years now, expectations for The Division 2 have climbed surprisingly high. Surprisingly, because expectations for the original Division were also extremely high and reception for the game was ultimately very negative. Yet Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft have managed to rebuild The Division’s reputation through consistent patched and post-launch content releases. It’s this awareness of The Division’s flaws and Massive’s dedication to solving them that has fans believing The Division 2 will deliver a much better experience at launch.
The Division 2 is tentatively planned for release in Ubisoft’s fiscal year 2019, between now and March 2019.
