Ubisoft has just revealed that a game it announced in 2021 is no longer in development. The Division Heartland was to be a spin-off that would make the action RPG series' Dark Zone PvP elements into its own game. However, after years in development, Ubisoft is pulling the plug and putting its resources into its other live service games.
While not publicly announced just yet, a note in the company's FY2023-24 earnings call (PDF) that happened today quietly revealed Heartland's status. In a section regarding Ubisoft's strides to reduce costs and make more selective investments going forward, the company said that "in line with the increased selectivity of its investments, Ubisoft has decided to stop development on The Division Heartland and has redeployed resources to bigger opportunities such as XDefiant and Rainbow Six."
With resources of Heartland now being poured into the aforementioned two games, it seems Ubisoft wasn't too sure if the spin-off would be a hit among gamers. Rainbow Six Siege is the long-running tactical shooter entry that is currently in its ninth year of support. Meanwhile, XDefiant is an upcoming free-to-play arena shooter entry with a focus on fast-paced gameplay. The title is set to launch on May 21.
The Division Heartland has been getting hit with continuous delays since its 2021 announcement. Despite multiple playtests, it's unclear how far away from launch the game's status was, and no details are available yet on why Ubisoft decided to cancel The Division Heartland after so many years in development.
In the same earnings call, Ubisoft revealed that it has cut the number of its employees by 1,700 in the last 18 months, with global employees standing at 19,011 as of March 2024.
Fans of the franchise still have more to look forward to, however. The Division 3 was announced late last year, with Massive Entertainment returning to develop the next mainline entry in the popular post-disaster-set world.
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