We have been waiting on The Division Heartland for quite a while now and it looks like the game is finally ready to be released. The free-to-play extraction shooter has been rated and is likely preparing for an early 2024 launch.
The upcoming The Division spin-off was rated PG-15 by the Taiwanese rating board earlier this month due to violence, inappropriate language, and anti-society themes. The upcoming game has been rated on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
The information on the rating was first shared by Kurakasis on X. In the tweet, the leaker said that games are rated in Taiwan around 2 and a half months before their planned release date. Ubisoft may be planning a soft launch or open beta for Heartland in early 2024.
2/ Of course, since it's Ubisoft, surprises do happen; xDefiant is an example 🫡
And I remember Silent Hill: The Short Message receiving a rating in Taiwan last year, and it's still not even announced, but it was a misunderstanding, and that's why it has been deleted since.— Kurakasis (@Kurakasis) November 26, 2023
Kurakasis did acknowledge Ubisoft’s tendency to internally delay its upcoming releases. The user cites XDefiant as one example of a game that has already been rated but has been delayed. The leaker adds, “I remember Silent Hill: The Short Message receiving a rating in Taiwan last year, and it’s still not even announced, but it was a misunderstanding, and that’s why it has been deleted since.
The Division Heartland was announced in May 2021 and was initially scheduled for release in 2021-2022. The game was delayed several times and Ubisoft went quiet on the release window. However, earlier this year, the developers, Red Storm Entertainment released a trailer and developer deep dive video on the upcoming extraction shooter, giving fans more details about what to expect with the title.
Heartland will be set in the town of Silver Creek during the events of the Dollar Flu pandemic. Players take on the role of a Division Agent tasked with protecting the small town against enemy factions, rogue agents, as well as a deadly contamination. The game shares the same timeline as The Division and its sequel but will have a stand-alone story.
The game will feature survival elements such as managing hydration levels and radiation exposure. The extraction shooter will also feature Contamination Zones in place of the Dark Zone from previous titles. PVP will be available in the Contamination Zone and the area will also have higher tier loot. The game will feature a constant day-night cycle, with enemies being much more dangerous at night.
The Division Heartland joins a growing number of extraction shooters from big gaming companies. Activision Blizzard has the DMZ and Zombies game modes within Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 while Bungie is working on Marathon, a new sci-fi shooter. Other popular extraction shooter titles are Escape from Tarkov, DayZ, and Hunt: Showdown. A new, and highly controversial title, The Day Before, is also set to launch as an early-access title soon.
Ubisoft is also working on The Division Resurgence for mobile while The Division 3 is also reportedly in the early stages of development.
