Ubisoft’s planned free-to-play Division game is dead

Just over three years ago, announced a free-to-play entry in its survival-action shooter series. At the time, it that Heartland would arrive later in 2021 or in 2022, but that never happened. In fact, Heartland isn’t coming out at all.

In its , Ubisoft said it ended development of the game, which Red Storm Entertainment, a studio that author Tom Clancy co-founded, was working on. Ubisoft is shifting resources to what it calls “bigger opportunities,” including other aspects of the in and the series.

Ubisoft canceled a number of games over the last couple of years to try and streamline its pipeline and reduce costs. It noted that it had reduced its headcount by more than 1,700 workers over 18 months to have 19,011 employees at the end of March.

The company also provided an update on its overarching strategy. It plans to focus on two core pillars: open=world titles (like and ) and ongoing live-service games (XDefiant and Rainbow Six Siege). That’s where Ubisoft sees room for growth, so expect more Far Cry and Ghost Recon titles in the coming years.

As for the more immediate future, we’ll find out the latest about the likes of AC Shadows, Star Wars Outlaws, (which should finally arrive in September), The Division Resurgence and XDefiant at .