Ubisoft: The Division Started as a WoW Clone
▼ Summary
– The Division was originally conceived as a World of Warcraft-style MMORPG, not a cover-based shooter.
– Developers revealed this in a video marking the game’s 10-year anniversary, discussing its early development.
– Early gameplay footage showed a more cartoonish version with MMORPG features like hotbars and a dog companion.
– The final game’s combat loop, called “Observe, Plan, Execute,” was developed later, replacing the initial MMO design.
– The article expresses curiosity about the scrapped MMO version while praising the final third-person shooter series.
The final version of The Division is known as a gritty, third-person tactical shooter, but its origins are surprisingly different. According to a new video from developer Massive Entertainment, the project began life as a World of Warcraft-style MMORPG. This early concept, complete with hotbars and a more cartoonish visual style, represents a fascinating road not taken for the now-iconic franchise.
The revelation came in a special “Devs Playing” video released to mark the game’s 10-year anniversary. Creative director Drew Rechner and developer Fredrik Thylander played through a mission while reflecting on the title’s long development. Rechner explained that the core combat loop, internally dubbed “OPE” for “Observe, Plan, Execute,” was not the starting point. “When we had started working on The Division, it was still an MMO with World of Warcraft-style gameplay,” Rechner stated. “That skill component wasn’t there. There weren’t those traditional shooter aspects.” Thylander added the specific detail that this early build even featured the classic MMO hotbar interface.
To illustrate this point, the video briefly cut to never-before-seen footage of this prototype. The visuals were notably more stylized and less realistic than the final game’s detailed rendition of a pandemic-stricken New York City. The gameplay snippet clearly showed a character with a hotbar of abilities at the bottom of the screen, alongside a canine companion, a feature absent from the released titles.
While The Division and its sequel ultimately became critically acclaimed for their refined cover-based shooting and loot-driven progression, this glimpse into the past is captivating. It underscores the significant creative evolution that can occur during a game’s development. The final product is a landmark in the third-person shooter genre, yet it’s intriguing to imagine the alternate reality where players were managing cooldowns on a hotbar in a snowy Manhattan. That early, abandoned version remains a curious footnote in the journey to create a definitive online tactical experience.
(Source: Kotaku)
