'The Division 2' Release Updates: Survivors Will Be the Focus of Washington DC Game

"The Division 2" will move beyond the effects of the viral outbreak in New York from the first game.

"The Division 2" keeps the premise that the player characters are part of an elite group of civilian agents which the U.S. Government calls upon during moments when national security is at stake. It will feature an improved experience based on what the developers have learned from the first “The Division” game.

Rather than the infrastructure-crippling viral outbreak that shuts down New York into a state of lawlessness, "The Division 2" brings us to Washington D.C. where the lawlessness of New York has also spread and lingered more than the disease. The players are tasked to defend the nation's capital as its last line of defense, with rumors of a coup having recently surfaced.

Chadi El-Zibaoui, "The Division 2's" associate creative director, confirmed in an interview with Gamingbolt that the story will be much more survivor-centric, focusing on how people outside of the New York Quarantine Zone have reacted to the virus's existence and have organized themselves to defend their livelihood.

This shift in focus may mean that a more prominent representation of civilians in “The Division 2” will be portrayed, a key experience which was not as prominent in the first game which seemed to leave the beautiful landscape of New York more of a ghost town.

“The Division 2's” gameplay will focus on new characters, with players unable to import their characters from the first game. While a potential wellspring of disappointment for many players heavily invested in the first game, the focus on new characters may be just what the franchise needs to deliver a more compelling narrative for the second game.