The Division Resurgence is a name you may have forgotten. In the sea of announced-then-cancelled off-shoots based on Ubisoft’s biggest franchises, Resurgence was one of the few to actually make it to release.
The free-to-play loot shooter has been available on iOS and Android since March, and later made its way to PC in April – though only on Ubisoft’s Connect launcher in early access. Resurgence then arrived on Steam last week, though despite Ubisoft announcing the Steam release in June you may not have noticed given how little fanfare surrounded it.
Player reactions on Steam are about as negative as you’d expect, with many questioning why Ubisoft released a game clearly designed for mobile devices on PC in the first place. At the time of writing, it’s sitting at a ‘Mixed‘ rating with nearly 1,600 user reviews.
“Honestly… just get the regular game you need to pay for. This one is just way too wonky as a mobile port of the regular first Division game and the play style just overall sucks to deal with,” one review reads.
Others shared criticisms about the game’s free-to-play aspects, which they say contribute to a worse experience.
“All the loot is locked behind daily completions, and you only get to do those maybe four-five times a day. Then the game scales the xp and rewards down hard,” another review reads.
Despite the volume of user reviews, player turnout hasn’t been all that. The game peaked at just 4,117 concurrent players on Steam (via SteamDB) at launch, and its 24-hour peak is even lower.
The reactions are understandable when you consider that Ubisoft continues to support The Division 2, the mainline sequel that’s been running since 2019. The game even broke its all-time concurrent record on Steam earlier this year. Indeed, the original Division also remains playable on PC.
Resurgence was initially announced back in 2022, when it was expected to arrive in 2024. That obviously never came to be. Seeing as it’s mostly based on the first game’s New York map, you may be better off playing The Division 1.
Meanwhile, part of the reason this release has rubbed players the wrong way so noticeably is likely Ubisoft’s lack of updates on The Division 3. Despite having been announced in 2023, the developer-publisher has been largely silent on the project. Notably, creative director and longtime franchise lead Julian Gerighty departed earlier this year, though Ubisoft released a statement at the time assuring fans development remains on track.
“Our teams who built this world with Julian are still here, carrying it forward with an ambitious, unchanged commitment for the future of The Division 2, The Division 2: Survivors, The Division Resurgence, and The Division 3,” the company said.
