What you need to know
- Ubisoft's Division Day livestream has finally revealed details on the Year 5 content for The Division 2 and it's worth the wait.
- The first season will begin in June and will see the debut of the new Descent game mode.
- Manhunts are being reworked for Year 5 seasons, while leagues, apparel events and other staples will continue.
- New story DLC is planned for the later part of Year 5.
Today is Ubisoft's Division Day, focused on everything in The Division universe and there's some really exciting stuff. Players of The Division 2 have been eagerly awaiting the roadmap for Year 5, and now we're getting our first look at it.
Year 5 will begin after the end of the currently running season, currently slated for June. The new roadmap will then kick in with the first new season, titled Broken Wings.
And the first exciting piece of news is that this is the season that will see the anticipated new game mode, Descent.
Descent is something a little different to what we've seen so far in The Division 2, in so much as it's being billed as a Roguelite. This changes up the gameplay loop we're used to and better still, it'll be free to all players. Most of the Year 5 content will still require the Warlords of New York expansion, but everyone can jump into Descent and have a good time.
On PC we'll all get a chance to try it out well ahead of its June debut. Ubisoft is putting the PTS live on April 21 with the first chance for the public to jump into Descent and experience it for themselves.
Other focus points in the Broken Wings season are the continuation of the Castle settlement rebuild, something which we're seeing the very early stages of in the final Year 4 season right now. The Castle will be taking on new purpose and its progression will continue right throughout Year 5.
Manhunts will also see a "new twist" starting in Broken Wings and for those on the premium pass, this season will also have a Splinter Cell themed outfit available as a reward.
Subsequent seasons in Year 5 will be called Puppeteers, Vanguard, and Black Diamond. Details on each are limited right now, but here's a brief overview on what we can expect.
- Puppeteers: A challenging new Incursion will take Agents on a venture out to the Meret Estate for another confrontation with the Cleaners.
- Vanguard: Agents will go back to New York City for the holidays and discover new revelations about Aaron Keener and his Rogues.
- Black Diamond: New story DLC will be available that adds new zones, new main missions, and a whole new endgame structure.
Incursions were a popular part of the first game and were some of the most difficult content. The Division 2 isn't short on things to play at higher difficulty, but the idea of some more is certainly exciting.
As is more focus on central bad guy Aaron Keener, first brought back into the mix with the Warlords of New York expansion. But it's the Black Diamond season which is probably the most interesting.
Yes, you see correct, a second round of story DLC is coming to The Division 2. There's nothing else to go on right now beyond new zones, missions, and a new endgame structure, but it sure sounds like Ubisoft is setting up The Division 2 for continued long-term support. With that story DLC we're also being promised "Seasons 2.0", and since the current seasonal model came in with Warlords of New York, it'd be fair to assume that a Year 6 is planned.
As an added bonus, anyone who logs into the game from April 25 through May 9, the Resident Evil Leon Kennedy outfit will be awarded completely free.
I'm really pumped for what's to come in The Division 2. It's already lived a longer life than any of us anticipated, but Year 5 is shaping up to be killer. There's some serious new content in the pipeline, and I can't wait to lose hundreds more hours to it.
