Tom Clancy's The Division

              Tom Clancy's The Division is an upcoming online open world third-person shooter role-playing video game with survival elements. The game was developed and published by Ubisoft, with assistance from Red Storm Entertainment, for Microsoft Windows,PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It was announced during Ubisoft's E3 2013 press conference, together with a seven-minute gameplay demo and is set to release on 8 March 2016.

Gameplay

               The Division takes place in mid-crisis New York, an open world with destructive environments that are free for players to explore. The player's mission is to restore order by investigating the source of a virus. Players have to team up with other Division agents as they progress. The game's core mechanics are similar to other third-person-shooters, in which player character can carry three weapons, and explosives like sticky bombs and smart mines to fight against enemies.Players may take cover behind objects during firefights to avoid taking damage from enemies, and to give them a tactical advantage when attacking. As the game is set in a third-person perspective, the character model is visible.

Development

               The Division was originally being developed as an eighth generation consoles exclusive.Shortly after the game's unveiling, Ubisoft stated that other platforms were not ruled out. Ubisoft asked PC gamers to show interest in the game by signing petitions, and then they would decide. The new IP and tech has been in development for several years although development on the actual game began in the summer of 2012.

                During E3 2013, the game was officially announced, with a trailer explaining the results of Operation Dark Winter and the purpose of Directive 51. During the Expo, Ubisoft announced a companion app that allows players to play the game on tablets. Players will be able to join in the game as a drone to offer tactical support for players playing on PC and consoles.On 20 August 2013, Ubisoft announced that the game would be released for PC on Microsoft Windows as a result of the "vocal and passionate PC community." On 7 February 2014, Ubisoft announced that Ubisoft Reflections was co-developing the game and was responsible for developing the map-design, character-design and the online components of the game. Red Storm Entertainment, a subsidiary of Ubisoft that was co-founded by Tom Clancy, was also working on the weapon-design of the game.Ubisoft Annecy was also announced to be one of the co-developers of the game on 8 May 2015.

                 On 15 May 2014, it was announced that The Division would be delayed until 2015, according to an anonymous source inside Ubisoft Massive studio. "The game engine works well, it's not done, but works well. The actual game development has barely started, however," said the anonymous insider. The Division uses Ubisoft's new proprietary engine known as Snowdrop, which is made exclusively for next-gen consoles and PC, excluding the Wii U.On 9 June 2014, The Division was showcased at E3 2014 with an anticipated release for late 2015. Ubisoft also announced that all DLC for The Division will be timed exclusives for Xbox One.

However, on 12 May 2015, Ubisoft announced that the game had yet again been delayed until the following year. The Division is now expected March 8, 2016, two years after its initially planned release.

                 During E3 2015, the game's final release date and a player versus player mode called "Dark Zones" was announced.Its companion app was cancelled, as the company considered that the addition of drone will bring unfairness to the competitive multiplayer mode of the game. The beta was then set to be released for the Xbox One in December 2015 and for Windows and PlayStation 4 in 2016. On 7 December 2015, Ubisoft announced that The Division's beta would be moved to "early 2016" and that an Xbox One exclusive alpha would begin on 9 December.

                 It was confirmed 26 January 2016 that the Closed Beta (it requires a key that is obtainable through a Uplay code) would begin on 28 January 2016 for Xbox One and 29 January 2016 for PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows, and end, for all platforms, on 1 February 2016 at 6AM EST. On 31 January 2016, Ubisoft announced that they had extended the beta, and that it would end on 2 February 2016 at 6AM EST.

                On 9 February 2016, Ubisoft announced that The Division's open beta would begin for Xbox One on 18 February 2016, and for PC and PS4 on 19 February 2016, and would end for all platforms on 21 February 2016.