'Tom Clancy's The Division' Continues Strong Launch With Minimal Bugs

Player response to “Tom Clancy’s The Division” has mostly been positive, with Ubisoft quickly working on any issues that may have arisen during launch week. Whether it’s an overpowered gun or server downtime, the developer has quickly communicated with the many gamers playing “The Division.”

Server issues, bugs and glitches can spoil a game’s launch to the point where its reputation may be tarnished. Ubisoft has firsthand experience through the launch of “Assassin’s Creed Unity” in 2014. Frame rate issues, game crashes, falling through floors and getting trapped in hay carts were just a few problems Ubisoft fixed on the first day of release. The technical issues led to an apology from Ubisoft and also affected the first week sales of “Assassin’s Creed Syndicate” in 2015.

Ubisoft later announced “Assassin’s Creed” will no longer be an annualized franchise.

Despite server problems during the first hours of the launch of “The Division,” the only downtime experienced by users has been for scheduled maintenance. The next planned server downtime is set for Saturday at 5 a.m. EST. The servers will be down for around 15 minutes, according to Ubisoft. Frame rate issues, which can hinder the gameplay, were not a problem for Xbox One or the PS4, according to Digital Foundry.

The first glitch that caused problems for many players was fixed Thursday. During the first mission in “The Division,” players had to use a laptop. With only one laptop in a multiplayer area, players were forced to line up and wait for their turn. Thursday’s update eliminated the laptop problem, improved server stability and fixed an issue with roaming enemies in the Dark Zone.

In a game like “The Division,” balance is important, which is why an overpowered gun could be a major problem for gamers. Players noticed the Midas submachine gun, found in the Dark Zone, was an incredibly powerful weapon that unfairly gave an advantage to players lucky enough to have found the weapon. After airing their grievances on Reddit, Ubisoft Massive said they were working on a way to fix the problem.

When players are not reporting bugs in the subReddit megathread, they are finding some very fun Easter eggs. It appears all four of the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" are referenced in "The Division." Players found a pair of nunchucks on top of a pizza box earlier in the week. Another player found a pair of swords and a pizza box Friday. With references to Michelangelo and Leonardo found, players are hunting for nods to Raphael and Donatello.