Tom Clancy's The Division 2 is a 2019 online action role-playing video game created by Massive Entertainment and published by Ubisoft. It is the sequel to Tom Clancy's The Division (2016) and takes place in a near-future Washington, D.C., after the release of a genetically engineered virus called "Green Poison." Players control an agent from the Strategic Homeland Division as they work to rebuild the city. Like the first game, The Division 2 is a third-person shooter where players use weapons and gadgets to fight enemy groups. The game includes elements of role-playing games (RPGs) and offers cooperative and player-versus-player online multiplayer modes.
Massive Entertainment collaborated with Ubisoft Reflections, Red Storm Entertainment, and Ubisoft studios in Annecy, Paris, Bucharest, and Shanghai to develop the game. The developers listened to feedback from players of the first game and added more detailed endgame content. They considered other cities as possible settings but chose Washington, D.C., because of its variety of environments, landmarks, and monuments. The developers were inspired by real-life disasters and worked with first responders and emergency management experts to create the game's post-apocalyptic world. Tom Clancy's The Division 2 was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on March 15, 2019.
Critics gave Tom Clancy's The Division 2 mostly positive reviews, praising its setting, gameplay, visuals, combat, level design, and amount of content at launch. However, some criticized the story. Like the first game, it was a commercial success, selling over 10 million copies worldwide, even though it did not meet initial sales expectations. The game was nominated for Best Multiplayer at The Game Awards and BAFTA Game Awards. As a live service game, Ubisoft provided downloadable content (DLC) packs, free updates, and released two expansion packs: Warlords of New York (2020) and Battle for Brooklyn (2025). A sequel titled Tom Clancy's The Division 3 is currently in development.
Gameplay
The Division 2 is a game where players use cover and see the action from a third-person view. Up to four players can work together to complete missions. The game takes place in Washington, D.C., seven months after the events of Tom Clancy's The Division, where a civil war breaks out between survivors and groups of villains. At the start of the game, players create their own Division agent by choosing the character’s gender and appearance. The agent has weapons like grenades, assault rifles, sniper rifles, and submachine guns. These weapons are divided into levels and rarity. High-quality weapons are hard to find but offer better stats and special abilities called "talents." Players can customize weapons with attachments like optics, sights, and barrel parts. The game also includes gear and armor; wearing gear from the same brand gives a small performance boost.
As players complete missions, they earn loot and experience points (XP). When they gain enough XP, they level up and receive SHD Tech, a currency used to unlock new skills, such as deploying turrets, shields, or combat drones, or accessing weapons like seeker mines and chemical launchers. Each skill has unique modifications that change how it works. The game adds new enemy types, including healers and enemies that shoot foam. During missions, players can request help from other players. Players can join clans with up to 50 members. Clan members’ actions earn clan XP, which can be used to upgrade the clan for benefits.
Washington, D.C., is an open world where players can explore. Players can recruit non-playable characters (NPCs) by completing missions and providing supplies to settlements. Recruiting NPCs unlocks projects that reward players with gear, XP, and blueprints for crafting. Upgrading settlements adds more facilities and gives benefits like access to gear storage or fast travel. Discovering a safehouse shows nearby SHD caches and fast travel points. Players can take control of enemy areas, call civilian help, and participate in events like stopping public executions or capturing resource convoys. Players can collect items like comms, relics, and Echoes. Weapon vendors buy unwanted items and gear for E-credits, which can be used to buy weapons, craft items, or change appearances.
The game has three Dark Zones, where players fight tough enemies for rare loot. Each Dark Zone can hold up to 12 players. When entering a Dark Zone, players’ gear is adjusted to keep everyone equal. Non-contaminated loot belongs to the player once collected, but contaminated loot must be extracted by helicopter while defending the extraction point from enemies and other players. If a player breaks into a Dark Zone chest or steals a supply drop, they and their team become "rogue." Rogue players can steal loot and XP from others. If they kill another player, they become "disavowed," alerting others. If they kill more players, they become "Manhunt Rogues," and players who kill them earn a bounty. Rogue status can be removed by surviving in the Dark Zone for a time or using special terminals. Dark Zones have their own progression system, DZ XP, used to unlock perks. The game also includes a competitive mode called Conflict, with maps set in separate locations.
When a player reaches level 30 and finishes the main story, the game divides the world into "world tiers," increasing difficulty. Player levels are replaced by "Gear Score," calculated from weapon and armor stats, attributes, and talents. In the endgame, a new enemy group called Black Tusk invades D.C., reactivating three previously completed missions or strongholds as invaded locations. These areas have tougher enemies and better loot. Completing invaded missions and having a high Gear Score allows players to liberate strongholds and unlock new world tiers. Players can fight 52 bosses, called the "Deck of 52," each dropping a collectible card. Players can specialize in classes like Survivalist (uses a crossbow), Sharpshooter (uses a sniper rifle), or Demolitionist (uses a grenade launcher). Post-launch updates added new classes like Gunner (uses a minigun), Technician (uses a missile launcher), and Firewall (uses a flamethrower). Players can enter "Occupied Dark Zones," where weapons are not normalized, friendly fire is allowed, AI enemies are harder to defeat, and players are not warned when others become rogue. The game also includes raids, which are large battles completed by up to eight players.
Synopsis
In 2015, the United States government took action after the Green Poison epidemic caused chaos in New York City, as shown in the book The Division by Tom Clancy. To maintain order, the government activated a secret group of agents called the Strategic Homeland Division (SHD or "the Division"). These agents use advanced technology and have the freedom to handle threats. They are supported by ISAC, an artificial intelligence system that helps manage their communications and technology nationwide.
By 2016, the Green Poison had spread globally, and most of the U.S. government’s leaders were dead or missing. The acting president, Andrew Ellis, was missing after Air Force One was shot down in Washington, D.C. The city became lawless and was divided into five areas controlled by different groups. The Joint Task Force (JTF) tried to protect civilians and restore order. The Civilian Militia supported the JTF. The Hyenas were a group of gangs and criminals who took advantage of the chaos. The Outcasts were survivors of quarantines who wanted revenge. The True Sons were a group of former military and government workers who believed strict control was needed to restore order.
Seven months after the Green Poison outbreak, some Division agents were defending a settlement when ISAC suddenly stopped working. The player Agent received a call from Washington, D.C., where a new attack on the JTF’s settlement was happening. After leaving the battle, the Agent traveled to D.C. to help the JTF fight the Hyenas. Manny Ortega, the city’s Division leader, explained the situation and asked the Agent to work with Alani Kelso to help civilians, remove criminal groups, and restore ISAC.
Ortega and Kelso learned about a possible cure for Green Poison and that President Ellis might still be alive but was being held by the Hyenas. Kelso wanted to focus on the cure, but Ortega said Ellis’ security clearance might be needed to access it. The Agent rescued Ellis, who confirmed that a special medicine called broad-spectrum antivirals could cure Green Poison. However, the medicine was locked in a briefcase in the Capitol, controlled by the True Sons. After restoring ISAC, Ellis promised to rebuild the United States. The Agent, JTF, and Civilian Militia attacked the Hyenas, True Sons, and Outcasts, killing their leaders and recovering the briefcase.
After the victory, a new group called Black Tusk, a powerful private military company, invaded Washington, D.C. Black Tusk took control of landmarks, and Ellis disappeared with the briefcase. The Agent discovered Black Tusk had given weapons to gangs and sabotaged ISAC. Ellis had secretly worked with Black Tusk, and his predecessor, President Mendez, had been killed by the Secret Service on Black Tusk’s orders. The Agent retrieved the antivirals from Black Tusk’s base at Tidal Basin and stopped a missile attack on the White House, but Ellis’ location remained unknown.
The Agent and Kelso traveled to New York City to help Faye Lau, who led local Division operations. They found the JTF’s base in City Hall destroyed by "Eclipse," a deadly version of Green Poison created by a rogue agent named Aaron Keener. The group regrouped at Haven, a civilian settlement run by Paul Rhodes. Haven was attacked by the Cleaners and Rikers, a group of escaped prisoners who sold weapons.
Since Keener’s location was unknown, the Agent and Kelso hunted his four lieutenants, who controlled areas in Lower Manhattan. After defeating the lieutenants, they learned Keener was on Liberty Island. The Agent and Kelso traveled there but were attacked by Black Tusk. Inside the Statue of Liberty Museum, they found Keener planning to use a missile to spread Eclipse and kill everyone in Manhattan. The Agent destroyed the missile and mortally wounded Keener, who sent a signal from his wristwatch before dying.
Keener’s signal activated ANNA, an artificial intelligence system created by a dead rogue agent named Parnell to control other rogue agents. Faye Lau, who had secretly allied with Black Tusk, told Black Tusk’s leader that ANNA would help them fight the Division. In Haven, Paul Rhodes and Roy Benitez thanked the Agent but expressed sadness over Lau’s betrayal. Kelso informed the Agent that a group of rogue agents had been activated in Washington, D.C.
Development
Massive Entertainment created the game with the help of Ubisoft Reflections, Red Storm Entertainment, and Ubisoft's studios in Annecy, Paris, Bucharest, and Shanghai. The developers used player feedback from the first game to add more content when the new game launched. The developers focused on creating more endgame content because players finished the first game quickly and had little to do afterward. The endgame in The Division 2 was designed to be more detailed and give players more things to do. The Black Tusk faction in the game had more challenging enemies because their artificial intelligence was programmed to act more aggressively and work together. The developers added more ways to customize characters and included updates from the first game when The Division 2 launched. The game world was designed to look more realistic, with events that happen as players explore. To make The Division 2 different from the first game, the developers redesigned weapons, the way players upgrade gear, and character roles.
Massive Entertainment considered setting the sequel in New York City or other U.S. cities like Seattle or New Orleans. They eventually chose Washington, D.C., as the main setting. The developers created the D.C. map to look exactly like the real city using tools like GIS and lidar data. Washington, D.C., has many different environments, allowing players to have varied combat experiences. The game has six biomes, while the first game had only two. Unlike New York City, Washington, D.C., has open spaces, which led to improvements in enemy AI, allowing enemies to move around the environment more effectively. The diverse settings also allowed for more varied level designs, including natural cover and interior spaces. Developers visited the city multiple times and talked to residents to capture its unique character.
The game is set seven months after a pandemic began, making Washington, D.C., look more broken than New York City in the first game. Parts of the city have flooded due to broken infrastructure, and plants are growing back in some areas. The developers worked with experts like botanists and emergency management professionals to create the game's world. They also took inspiration from real disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina. The game explores how civilians organize during crises, with players helping rebuild communities. The developers used environmental storytelling to show events that happened during the seven months of the crisis. Washington, D.C., was chosen because it is a powerful symbol of government and national identity. The ruined national monuments in the game show how society has completely collapsed. Ubisoft said The Division 2 is not meant to have any political message.
Main missions in the game take place at famous locations like the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. The developers also created spaces players would not normally visit, such as a Cold War bunker. The main factions are Hyenas, a group of opportunistic raiders; True Sons, a group of former military officers; and Outcasts, former prisoners seeking revenge. Each faction has different enemy behaviors to help players identify them. Both players and enemies in the game die faster in shootouts than in the first game because the developers wanted gameplay to feel more like a tactical shooter. Combat animations were made more detailed and visible.
The developers focused more on player-versus-player competitive multiplayer than in the first game. Dark Zones returned in The Division 2 but were designed to attract more players. A system called Gears normalization was added to ensure fair competition, though some Dark Zones were made to match the style of the first game. In the first game, all loot from Dark Zones required a helicopter to leave, but The Division 2 added "non-contaminated loot" to make the experience more rewarding. The three Dark Zone locations are Washington Union Station, the D.C. waterfront, and Georgetown, each offering different playstyles. To create an unsettling atmosphere, the developers recorded quiet areas in Chernobyl. Dark Zones were placed at opposite ends of the map to allow for future expansions. The developers encouraged players to try Dark Zones by rewarding actions like stealing supplies and changing the Rogue status system. Players who camped at checkpoints were discouraged because defense systems in Dark Zones would attack those with the highest Rogue status.
In February 2021, an update was released to improve the game's performance, allowing it to run smoothly at 60 frames per second on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions.
Release
Ubisoft announced Tom Clancy's The Division 2 on March 9, 2018, and showed the first gameplay footage at E3 2018 in June of the same year. At the event, Ubisoft confirmed the game would be released on March 15, 2019, for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. A private beta started on February 7, 2019, and ended four days later on February 11. A four-day open beta began on March 1, 2019. The game was available only on the Epic Games Store and Ubisoft's Uplay store at launch. It later became available on Steam on January 12, 2023. The game, including all expansions, was released on Google Stadia on March 17, 2020. This version allows players to play with others on PC and share progress across platforms. The game was also available on Amazon Luna on November 23, 2020.
The Division 2 was described as a live service game, meaning Ubisoft would provide free updates after its initial release. After the game launched, three episodes of downloadable content (DLC) were released. These added new story content and gameplay modes. Players who bought the Year 1 Pass received the DLC episodes early and had access to special missions called "Classified Assignments." The first DLC episode, titled D.C. Outskirts: Expedition, was released in July 2019. It included two new campaign missions where players search for a missing president and eliminate the leader of the Outcasts. It also added a three-part expedition set in Kenly College, where players must retrieve supplies from a lost convoy. The second DLC episode, Pentagon: The Last Castle, was released in October 2019. It introduced two new missions set in The Pentagon and a DARPA research lab. In this episode, players and Black Tusk agents compete to uncover a secret in the defense headquarters. The third DLC episode, Coney Island: The Hunt, was released in February 2020. This episode required players to search Coney Island for a scientist who may have discovered a cure for a virus that caused a global pandemic.
The game has two paid expansions. The first, Warlords of New York, was released in March 2020. It raised the level cap to 40, though new players can start the expansion as level-30 characters. This expansion completed the story from the base game and its DLC episodes. It brought back two factions from the first game, the Rikers and the Cleaners, and introduced a new map set in hurricane-damaged Lower Manhattan, divided into four districts. The expansion also added new gadgets, updated the gear system, and included more varied boss fights and global events, which are gameplay modifiers. A second expansion, Battle for Brooklyn, was released on May 27, 2025. It added new missions and expanded the map to include two neighborhoods in Brooklyn—Brooklyn Heights and Dumbo. This expansion paid tribute to the opening sequence of the first Division game. Originally planned for 2024, the release was delayed as Ubisoft focused on fixing bugs and improving gameplay. The expansion was designed to be accessible to new players, even those who had not played Warlords of New York.
Starting in the game's second year, Ubisoft introduced a seasonal model. Each season lasted 12 weeks and included manhunt targets and gameplay events. Post-launch support was expected to end by late 2020 as the developers shifted focus to other projects, such as Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and Star Wars Outlaws. However, Warlords of New York was more successful than expected, leading Ubisoft to continue releasing seasons and updates. Developers had to repeat seasons in 2021 and early 2022 before releasing the first major update, "Season 9: Hidden Alliance," in May 2022. As of December 2024, Ubisoft is still supporting the game. The latest season, "Year 6 Season 1 First Rogue," was released in June 2024.
After the game's initial release, Ubisoft added several new game modes. The first raid, titled Operation Dark Hours, was released in May 2019. Set in Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, this raid was described as the biggest challenge for players, requiring eight players to work together to complete objectives. The second raid, Operation Iron Horse, was released in June 2020. A new game mode called The Summit was introduced on September 22, 2020. This mode allows up to four players to work as a team to climb a 100-story skyscraper while fighting enemies. Season 9 added Countdown, a mode where four players must stabilize a failing nuclear power station within 15 minutes. In April 2023, the Descent mode was released. Set in a training simulation, this mode allows up to four players to complete encounters starting with basic weapons. Players gain power as they earn talent points, a feature borrowed from roguelike games. A mode called Survivors, described as a "survival extraction experience," is currently in development and led by Magnus Jansén, the creative director of the original game. Ubisoft tested a battle royale mode, which was later reworked into The Division Heartland. This mode was canceled in 2024. Ubisoft also released cosmetic items and weapon skins inspired by other franchises, such as Resident Evil and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell.
Reception
Tom Clancy's The Division 2 received "generally favorable reviews" from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic. The expansion pack, Warlords of New York, also received mostly good reviews, except for the PS4 version, which had "mixed or average" reviews.
Chris Carter from Destructoid praised the game's tight, satisfying gunplay and the responsiveness of the game's artificial intelligence. Johnny Chiodini from Eurogamer noted that the game expands on the first game's foundation, adding new gadgets and changes to customization and gears. Matt Bertz from Game Informer praised the more-impactful gunplay, saying enemies can be defeated faster than in the first game but called the cover system "finicky." Edmond Tran from GameSpot said the variety of enemy types forces players to use different tactics and called the combat tense and exciting. The game's progression system, which rewards players with new gadgets and gears regularly, was also praised.
Critics praised the design of the game's missions and levels, especially those set in landmarks and monuments of Washington, D.C. Massive's digital recreation of Washington, D.C. was praised; Javy Gwaltney from Game Informer wrote that the game "excellently endows a sense of place in the player," strongly praising its playspace design and noting the open world and detailed interiors were integrated smoothly. Tran called the setting an "engrossing, believable, and contiguous open world," and James Duggan from IGN praised Massive's attention to detail that invites exploration. Samuel Roberts from PC Gamer wrote that D.C. is more dynamic than New York City in the first game but less recognizable. Chiodini said the sunny D.C. location is not as atmospheric as the snowy New York setting.
The endgame received positive reviews. Carter praised its replayability, noting it reuses locations from the campaign. He said Black Tusks, an enemy faction, is fierce and that the endgame offers opportunities to explore builds and encourages cooperation. Chiodini described Black Tusks as aggressive and said reaching the endgame feels like "a genuine step up, rather than the start of a long and dreary grind." He also praised the use of world tiers to extend the game's longevity. Bertz praised Massive for adding new gameplay objectives in the endgame and said the core gameplay keeps players engaged. Tran praised the variety of activities in the endgame, saying remixed missions create progressively challenging combat scenarios. Tran called Dark Zones "fascinating," saying they add tension, distrust, and dishonesty. Roberts noted the three Dark Zones are differently designed and can create tense, player-generated stories. Duggan expressed disappointment, saying the sequel lacks the dynamic of the first game. Many critics praised The Division 2 for being feature-complete and having stable performance at launch.
The game's narrative was criticized. Carter said the story lacks strength and features forgettable characters and faceless enemies. Tom Hoggins from The Daily Telegraph called the story "wafer-thin" and said the game is thematically uninspiring despite its setting. Bertz praised the environmental storytelling but was disappointed that Massive did not explore the pandemic or the fall of the U.S. in the main story. Tran said the opportunity to create meaningful fiction was wasted. Chiodini called the story "awful" and criticized the writers for evoking a "sense of poignancy" without exploring political themes. He added the game "pulls in these bits of American history with unwavering earnestness and yet manages to say absolutely nothing." Aaron Riccio from Slant Magazine wrote the game symbolizes the decline of the Tom Clancy brand, which once dealt with "complex geopolitical entanglements" but now focuses on "modern-day fetishization of guns and violent, paramilitary engagement."
On its release week, Tom Clancy's The Division 2 was the UK's best-selling game, though its sales were 20% of the original game's launch-week sales. In Japan, approximately 63,817 physical PlayStation 4 units were sold during its launch week, making it the best-selling game of any format. In the U.S., it was the best-selling video game of March 2019 and the ninth-best-selling game of the year, according to the NPD Group.
Ubisoft's decision not to release The Division 2 on Steam at launch caused six times as many players to preorder the game on the Ubisoft Store compared to its predecessor. Console sales did not meet Ubisoft's expectations, with the company citing increased competition in the genre as a reason. Ubisoft said PC sales were similar to the first game. The Division 2 sold more than 10 million copies during the eighth generation of video game consoles.
During testimony in the antitrust lawsuit Epic Games v. Apple, it was revealed that between May 9 and 11, 2019, 70–90% of online transactions for the game's downloads were fraudulent. Scammers used stolen credit card numbers to buy Ubisoft games in the Epic Games Store, prompting a "profuse" email apology from Epic CEO Tim Sweeney to Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot. Sweeney said, "Fraud rates for other Epic Games Store titles are under 2%, and Fortnite is under 1%. So 70% fraud was an extraordinary situation."
Sequel and spin-offs
As of September 2023, a follow-up game called Tom Clancy's The Division 3 is being created, with Julian Gerighty as the head producer. A free-to-play version of the game, Tom Clancy's The Division Heartland, began development in 2020 but was canceled in 2024. Another free-to-play game, Tom Clancy's The Division Resurgence, designed for Android and iOS devices, was released on March 31, 2026.