I’d play it
Even as an MMO fan since the ’90s (RIP the original incarnation of Ultima Online), the discussion around everything being a “live service game” is exhausting. Some projects thrive in a one-shot environment, and if the quality is there and the budget is constrained and well-tempered, it’s possible to craft successful solo stories.
Division 2‘s creative director Julian Gerighty is considering this prospect for Ubisoft’s popular shooter franchise, thanks to a question posed (and subsequently put on his radar) by Tim Spencer of Traveler’s Tale games. The idea is to create something a little less gamey and focus on a more personal story to add to the Division universe, which sounds like a rad concept. The tweet is mostly provocative in nature and doesn’t confirm a new solo Division game in any way, but it does show that a creative lead is at least thinking about it. The consensus is that it is “apparently not something people are violently against,” Gerighty says with a smiley face.
How this would work with Ubisoft’s philosophy that nearly everything they make needs to be a long term online-enabled game is anyone’s guess. Even projects like Assassin’s Creed, which are traditionally single player campaigns, have multiplayer components crammed inside eventually. Still, if it was killer at launch and had all that stapled on later, that would be more than good enough!
Julian Gerighty [Twitter]
