Ubisoft are apparently working on a battle royale for their IP The Division, with an industry insider claiming that the failure of Hyper Scape has prompted the video game publishers to return to a previously shelved idea.
The gaming community has been innovated and inundated by battle royales ever since Fortnite exploded in popularity in 2017. Since then, we’ve seen it joined by immensely popular BRs like Apex Legends and Call of Duty’s Warzone.
One title that failed to capture the imagination of players in a comparable way was Hyper Scape, Ubisoft’s futuristic battle royale that came and went within months.
However, the company’s appetite for a successful battle royale appears to have remained and, as they plow more resources into The Division IP, new information appears it will be their latest effort to break into the genre.
Ubisoft insider claims The Division BR is in development
Speaking on his Game Mess show, insider Jeff Grubb claimed that the shelved battle royale for The Division has been retrieved from the proverbial shelf following Hyper Scape’s failure.
“Codename Reaper is a The Division stand-alone battle royale,” he said. “It was shelved last year after some bad player impressions, but now Ubisoft has restarted work on it because they shut down Hyper Scape. They really want a successful battle royale. Reworking is a big word, it’s more of a re-tooling with rogue-like features.”
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At the time, when Hyper Scape crumbled, Ubisoft promised to learn from the game’s mistakes and invest their lessons into any future titles. It appears the battle royale formula was not judged to have been a mistake, rather the execution.
It fits with recent trends shown by Ubisoft, with The Division Resurgence already confirmed as an upcoming mobile title.
They have also pledged to support The Division 2 into its fifth year, in much the same way Rainbow Six Siege is going strong in its seventh year since launch.
Whether a BR in the vein of The Division will be successful is another matter but, as Fortnite, Apex Legends and Warzone continue to dominate the F2P gaming scene, Ubisoft appears ready to throw down the gauntlet.