We here at PCU have been back & forth with Ubisoft’s The Division since before it was released. That being said, we were made privy to some information this morning, which may change (some of) our minds.

As it turns out, Ubisoft recently revealed some details on an upcoming expansion (entitled “Survival”) to the game, which may give a morale boost to those players who are still “meh” on it. From what we know, Survival will allow up to 24 players to compete with one another AND the elements in order to snag the loot that’s stashed in the middle of Manhattan. The game’s entire map will be open to players, with each player spawning at a different point in the city. The twist to this one? Players will have to keep themselves alive, as they battle blizzard conditions and fight against the cold, thirst, hunger, and illness (as one would in an IRL scenario). All of these conditions will come into play, and affect how long one can survive in-game.

There are several aspects to the survival in the game. Players will need to take into account the “cold rating of their clothing gear – the higher the rating, the better the clothing will protect against the blizzard conditions. Medicine will also need to be scavenged in order to battle illness. The kicker with this part, though, is that your character will essentially build up tolerances to the medicine, meaning that the more you consume, the less effective it will become over time. Players will also be able to take shelter in various places throughout the map, which will allow their characters to warm up a bit. HOWEVER, there will be no mini-map in Survival, so players will want to make sure that they sharpen their sense of direction in order to find their way around, as they try to reach the center of the city.

In Survival, the city’s center is in a Dark Zone, and contains some high-level enemies. That, in addition to the potential for EVERY OTHER PLAYER to be there at the same time, will certainly heighten the challenge. Once players reach the center, there is a package they’ll need to extract, meaning that only one player will get to reap the benefits of the loot. Everyone else? Well, let’s just say, don’t be one of “everyone else”.

It’s also worth noting that this will not be a ‘run-and-gun’ battle. Survival also has NO respawns, so if a player gets downed and is not revived, their session will end. Characters will start with no skills, so intelligent skill disbursement will be necessary, and sessions have a 2-hour time limit. After that point, player characters will die.

There’s currently no release date for Survival, but we will update you when we know more. Let us know in the comments what you think of this idea for The Division. Will you be braving the elements to capture the loot & beat your fellow gamers to the city’s center? We want to know your thoughts!