The Division Resurgence Brings Tactical Shooter Mechanics to Mobile Phones

Tom Clancy’s The Division Resurgence aims to bring the popular post-crisis New York City shooter experience to phones, but there will be some noticeable changes to the game’s formula. 

In Division Resurgence, players will once again reclaim the streets of NYC following the release of a smallpox variant referred to as the Green Point, which kills 90% of people. They’ll step into the role of the first wave of Division agents – trained field operatives who must keep their identities a secret – sent into the city with access to weapons and skills found in the previous Division games, although with some differences in the mobile version. 

Tom Clancy’s The Division, developed by Massive Entertainment and published by Ubisoft, released in 2016 to huge sales numbers on the PS4, Xbox One and PC. Its sequel, The Division 2, came out in 2019 to a smaller reception than the original, but it still has a loyal following who play the game regularly. 

Action in Division Resurgence will be done via touch controls on iOS or Android phones. The game’s user interface has buttons to get into cover, shoot and use skills during combat. James Berry, community developer for the game, confirmed support for Bluetooth controllers is something the development team is working on for the game’s launch. 

upcoming Resurgence alpha testUnlike the previous two games, players will have to select a specialization with their own skills and abilities rather than being able to mix and match. Three classes will be available in the upcoming Resurgence alpha test, and six will be there when the game launches. The first three are Demolitionist, with access to a turret and seeker mine; Bulwark, a defensive option with access to the ballistics shield and mobile cover; and the Vanguard, who can scan enemies and make use of a drone. 

“The idea being we want players to be able, to as a team, find the right mix of specializations depending on their needs, depending on the mission or the activities that they’re playing,” Berry said. 

Resurgence will take place in the same Midtown Manhattan as the first Division game, but Berry said more areas of the city will be made available. Players will partake in missions and side activities either by themselves or with a team similar to the other Division games. They’ll go up against different enemy factions including the new group called the Freemen, who make their own weapons and armor. Players will also face escaped prisoners, known as the Rikers, and the cultish city workers referred to as the Cleaners, both of whom were introduced in the first game. 

Berry also confirmed the Dark Zone – an area where players fight against enemies as well as each other – will also be in Resurgence. It won’t be in the upcoming alpha test but will be added in the future 

Since Resurgence is free-to-play, fans of the series do have concerns about how much monetization there will be in the game. When Diablo Immortal, a mobile entry for the Diablo franchise, was released last month, players found out the best equipment in the game would require a lot of money to access.

Berry said monetization is an “ongoing topic” for the development team. 

“It’s something that we’re still working on something that we’re going to be testing a bit later in the year,” he said. “The main focus for us is to make sure that everyone can play it on an equal footing. We want everyone to be able to enjoy the game at their own pace with it being balanced between all our players.”

The Division Resurgence will be free when it launches on iOS and Android phones, and the team will release a list of hardware that can run the game sometime before launch.