The Division getting a stand-alone free-to-play game called Heartland

By Joseph Yaden May 6, 2021

Ubisoft has major plans for the future of The Division franchise, starting with the reveal of Tom Clancy’s The Division Heartland, a new free-to-play game set in the same universe as the previous installments.

The new title is currently in development for consoles, PC, and cloud. It’s developed by Red Storm, one of Ubisoft’s support teams. Heartland is planned to launch by the end of next year, though there’s no firm date.

This stand-alone game will not require players to have experienced the other entries and will “provide an all-new perspective on the universe in a new setting,” as explained via a post from Ubisoft. Players can currently sign up for the game’s test phase. Based on that signup page, it appears that Heartland will launch for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, and PS5, along with PC and cloud.

Within that same post, Ubisoft has a lot more planned, including an upcoming new original novel from publisher Aconyte that will take place after the events of The Division 2.

Ubisoft Massive and Ubisoft Bucharest are continuing to work on more content for The Division 2, with plans for a brand new game mode that is planned to launch in 2021. The company notes that a mobile version of the franchise is on the horizon as well.

free-to-play-game-the-division-heartland-in-development — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Ubisoft shared a timeline of the franchise’s upcoming plans, which includes a new Netflix film inspired by the events of the original game. It will star Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain, with an unannounced release date. In short, fans of The Division have plenty to look forward to within the next few years.

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Joseph Yaden is a freelance journalist who covers Nintendo, shooters, and horror games. He mostly covers game guides for…

Gaming

Tom Clancy’s The Division 3 is in development under new executive producer

The Division 2

Ubisoft has announced that Tom Clancy's The Division 3 is in the works now that a new executive producer is poised to take over the franchise.
On Ubisoft's blog, the company revealed that Julian Gerighty, who is currently the Creative Director of Star Wars: Outlaws, will transition to being the Executive Producer for The Division Brand once Outlaws comes out. Previously, two The Division games were confirmed to be in the works -- a mobile game titled The Division Resurgence and survival shooter The Division Heartland -- but this announcement confirms that players should also eventually expect a full sequel to 2019's The Division 2.

As Gerighty isn't even in charge of The Division franchise yet and still needs to build a team for the sequel, it's clear that The Division 3 is far from release, and not a lot of concrete details about it can be shared. Still, Ubisoft confirmed that its development will be led by Massive Entertainment, and Gerighty shared a bit of his vision of quality for the franchise.
"I think that we delivered [quality] with Tom Clancy’s The Division’s cutting-edge visuals, incredible gameplay, and promise to the player that they can't get this experience anywhere else, and then again with Tom Clancy’s The Division 2," he explained. "It’s about refinement, it's about pushing the quality bar consistently forward ... There are a huge number of talented developers currently working on the brand, and I think that having more consistency can only make everybody's work sing."
Ubisoft did not announce platforms or a release window for Tom Clancy's The Division 3.

Gaming

PlayStation Plus is getting a major price hike following Game Pass changes

PlayStation Plus art highlighting the essential, extra, and premium tiers.

Sony confirmed that 12-month subscriptions for PlayStation Plus Essential, Extra, and Premium will all see price increases alongside the reveal of September's new Essential games on the PlayStation Blog.
Starting on September 6, 12 months of PS Plus Essential goes up in price from $60 to $80, PS Plus Extra's yearly price increases from $100 to $135, and an annual subscription to PS Plus Premium will rise from $120 to $160.

Sony says it needs to increase the price of all three versions of PlayStation Plus "to continue bringing high-quality games and value-added benefits to your PlayStation Plus subscription service" and that buying a 12-month subscription is still cheaper than subscribing to any of the shorter-term plans over the same period of time. The price hikes comes just a couple of months after Microsoft raised the price of Xbox Game Pass.
When it comes to the games PS Plus Essential subscribers can expect this month, first up is Saints Row, a 2022 reboot of an open-world crime franchise that garnered mixed reviews upon its release. Next is Generation Zero, an open-world sci-fi shooter where players fight evil machines. Finally, those who have not already purchased a version of the MMO Black Desert on PS4 can redeem Black Desert - Traveler Edition, which comes with some additional items; if you have bought a version of Black Desert, you can just redeem the Traveler Item Pack.

Gaming

The best free-to-play mobile games

Marvel Snap running on the OnePlus Nord N30 5G.

The realm of mobile gaming has come a long way since the days when you were lucky if you could play a game of Snake on your brick of a phone. Today, we all have essentially a modern console in our pockets with games that look and play just as good as what is offered on current consoles. Unlike the console or PC space, mobile games have mostly stuck to either being extremely cheap or simply free-to-play. While that sounds great on the surface, it also means that the storefronts are filled with thousands of games looking for your attention, with only a select few worthy of your time. If you're looking for your next mobile go-to with no upfront cost, here are the best free-to-play mobile games you may never delete from your home screen.

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