The upcoming first-person arena-shooter XDefiant has gained considerable traction during its closed beta, standing out for its solid shooting mechanics, objective-based gameplay, and a roster of factions from Ubisoft's suite of hit franchises - including The Division. Its surge in popularity combined with the impending release of The Division Heartland could prove a perfect generator of demand for The Division 3.

XDefiant is a clever blend of several popular shooters that has seen over a million players since the start of its latest closed beta. With clear influence from the shooting mechanics of Call of Duty, beta testers' word of mouth has made it to the center of discussion. Ubisoft is no stranger to the shooter genre or live-service titles, but while several of its recent multiplayer titles have underperformed, XDefiant has a real shot at reversing the trend for the publisher.



Featuring characters from the worlds of Far Cry, Watch Dogs, Splinter Cell, and The Division, if XDefiant takes off it could provide invaluable cross-promotion for future Ubisoft games. The potential synergy between Ubisoft's franchises could be a windfall for the publisher, providing cosmetics in XDefiant for preordering other games, advertising them on banners in XDefiant's maps, or any number of similar sales tactics. With the lessons learned from the pitfalls of Hyperscape, Roller Champions, and the canceled Ghost Recon Frontlines, hopefully the publisher is going all-in on the attention and resources that XDefiant needs to thrive.

Due out sometime in 2023 is The Division Heartland, which will mark a side-entry for the series set in a more rural area. A recent developer deep-dive video highlighted its narrowed focus compared to The Division and The Division 2. In many ways, The Division Heartland appears to be the evolution of the first game's Survival mode, with players needing to scavenge food and water, as well as craftable respirators to survive infected zones - all the while contending with the threat of other players trying to do the same. While Ubisoft is surely trying to create a successful new entry in the series, one that is capitalizing on the recent trend of extraction shooters, The Division Heartland can also act as a bridge between mainline entries in the series, building hype in anticipation of The Division 3's potential announcement.

The lead development team for both The Division games, Massive Entertainment, currently has a full docket as it finishes work on Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, with a secretive and untitled Star Wars project next on its slate. A theoretical The Division 3 could be developed by Massive, but that scenario places it years away from being the team's main focus. A more likely Ubisoft studio to take the reins would be Red Storm, who is responsible for The Division Heartland and had a hand on The Division 2. If Heartland ends up being a hit, chances are good that Ubisoft would trust the studio with the IP's future, and an announcement from the team for The Division 3 could come sometime in 2024.

For some fans, The Division 3 is already at the top of their wishlists, with the series' unparalleled settings, addictive loot treadmill, and the always-thrilling Dark Zone. For other more casual fans of The Division, Ubisoft's new arena shooter XDefiant could remind players of the semi-apocalyptic looter shooter that has been missing from their lives, as The Division Heartland lands later in the year to reinforce that reminder. Either way, with so much attention on XDefiant's closed beta, there is plenty of opportunity for Ubisoft's marketing team to capitalize.

The Division Heartland is currently in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.



Posted: Apr 26, 2023 8:38 pm
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://gamerant.com/ubisoft-xdefiant-closed-beta-playerbase-division-3-heartland-attention-marketing/