Ubisoft Cancels The Division Heartland
Ubisoft made a strategic decision to cancel its forthcoming free-to-play shooter, Tom Clancy's The Division Heartland, redirecting its efforts towards more promising ventures.
In Ubisoft’s earnings report on May 15, 2024, the company announced they have “decided to stop development on The Division® Heartland,” redeploying resources to XDefiant and Rainbow Six.
This move is part of a broader restructuring initiative that Ubisoft has been undertaking in recent quarters, aimed at optimizing team resources, reducing expenses, and consolidating efforts into major game releases.
In their official statement, Ubisoft stated:
"After careful deliberation, we have opted to cease development on Tom Clancy’s The Division Heartland with immediate effect. Our primary objective now is to provide support to the talented team members at our Red Storm Entertainment studio, facilitating their transition to other projects within our organization, notably XDefiant and Rainbow Six."
Initially unveiled in 2021, Tom Clancy's The Division Heartland was in development under Red Storm Entertainment and underwent numerous closed beta testing despite being delayed. Though the last update in the official The Division Heartland Discord channel was July 2023, fans of The Division franchise were hopeful.
Image: Ubisoft
This cancellation adds to a string of recent terminations by Ubisoft, including the closure of three undisclosed projects including the abandonment of Immortals Fenyx Rising 2 last year. The company attributed these decisions to its attempt to streamline operations, citing an overextension in its game development endeavors.
Like many peers in the gaming industry, Ubisoft has been implementing significant cost-cutting measures over the past year, resulting in studio closures, layoffs, and the discontinuation of multiple projects. In its earnings release, Ubisoft disclosed a reduction of over 1,700 staff positions within 18 months, emphasizing an improvement in retention rates.
During the earnings call, CEO Yves Guillemot expressed optimism about the company's financial prospects, affirming a return to a "profitable growth trajectory." Highlighting record-breaking annual and quarterly net bookings, Guillemot outlined Ubisoft's future strategy, which includes a focus on reclaiming leadership in the open-world adventure genre and expanding its games-as-a-service offerings. Among the upcoming releases for this year are Assassin's Creed Shadows (formally unveiled the release day as November 15 during the earnings report), Rainbow Six Mobile, Star Wars Outlaws, The Division Resurgence, and XDefiant.
Former Ubisoft designer Ryan Smith said in a tweet that Tom Clancy’s The Division Heartland was initially developed as a battle royale mode for The Division 2, however, Ubisoft and Red Storm had other plans. Heartland became an independent PvPvE installment with dynamic gameplay, unlike anything currently on the market. Because it was mostly finished, industry critics surmise, and fans of the franchise hope that Tom Clancy’s The Division Heartland will see the light of day in the form of The Division 3 since The Division franchise is still one of Ubisoft’s focuses.
