While anticipation continues to build over the release of Tom Clancy's The Division, some sources are saying that we can expect the game to hit retail stores in October of 2015.
"My sources can confirm that The Division would be available by October," wrote Cyberland in late February. "Expect to see new videos of the game on GDC."
At the Game Developer's Conference, held earlier this month in San Francisco, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot gave the only official answer to the release date question, stating that we can expect the game "any time between now to March 31, 2016." While that seems like a long wait for a game that has been teased since its reveal at E3 2013, many experts expect the actual wait for be much shorter.
Tom Clancy's The Division is inspired by two real-life events, Operation Dark Winter and Directive 51, that worked to reveal just how vulnerable the United States is in these modern days. When a disease spreads on Black Friday in the game, it only takes five days for the government to collapse.
You play as a member of a classified agency known as the Strategic Homeland Division (SHD) or "The Division" for short. Your goal is to maintain order during the chaotic times after the pandemic spreads, with a main objective to prevent the collapse of society.
You will not only fight against AI-controlled enemies in the game, but also other players in an multiplayer online mode.
The game was originally meant to be an exclusive for eighth-generation consoles, but a number of petitions were created to beg Ubisoft to release it for the PC as well. While this may be one of the reasons for the delay, the response was so overwhelming that Ubisoft agreed to a PC version on August 20, 2013.
A leaked bit of alpha footage emerged earlier this month, showing off little more than a few screenshots and a gif of the game's animation. When Ubisoft discovered the leaks, the publisher responded by pointing out that this was old pre-alpha footage from the Xbox One, and the game has already improved since then.
"These low-resolution images come from a pre-alpha version organized by developers to test the infrastructure. A large portion of the game has been removed and is not in any way the current quality of the game," Ubisoft said to VG247.
But concerning the projected release date, we can't help but look at the Fall/Winter release window and the important date portrayed in the game: Black Friday. Would it be too much of a stretch to guess that Ubisoft may be looking at the day after Thanksgiving as a potential launch date?
The Division is expected to launch on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
