[UPDATE: Almost immediately after the leak of The Division 2's press release and assets, Massive Entertainment officially confirms the game's existence in an Ubisoft blog post. The original story continues below.]

Back in December 2017, the developer Massive Entertainment teased a sequel to the hit open-world game Tom Clancy's The Division. Then, earlier this week, job listings also suggested that a sequel is on the way, and that Massive Entertainment is looking to bulk up its workforce in a major way. Naturally, both news stories were met with huge speculation from fans.

Fans need speculate no longer. Ubisoft's announcement of The Division 2 has now leaked just a few hours ahead of a community livestream where the game was expected to be unveiled officially. A German press release including logo assets reveals that a sequel to The Division is indeed in development and states that The Division 2 development is currently being led by Massive Entertainment, with Ubisoft's other studios, Ubisoft Annecy, Redstorm, Reflections, Ubisoft Bucharest, and Ubisoft Shanghai, providing additional development support.

The Division 2 will also be built on an updated version of the Snowdrop Engine (the game engine that powered the first game) and this improved technology will help the development team to "realize our ambitions for this title." Although the press release doesn't mention any actual gameplay details, Ubisoft does confirm that it will offer a more significant look at the game during its E3 2018 press conference which will take place in June.

Ubisoft also details updates for The Division 1 including two new Global Events, new Legendary difficult missions, and an Xbox One X update that will allow the game to run in 4K at 1080p. In June 2018, The Division 1 players will also be able to play Crests which are achievements that will allow them to unlock The Division 2 rewards. However, there's currently no word on what those rewards may be.

The Division 1 has ultimately been a huge success, with 20 million players diving into the game, looking to take back the streets of New York in the wake of societal collapse. Players have enjoyed teaming up to take down enemies, collect loot, and explore, and the development team behind the game has successfully kept fans engaged even years after its release.

However, The Division 1 has not been without its faults. The first game's launch was notoriously rocky, multiple updates and pieces of DLC were delayed as a result of ongoing quality issues with the game, and, of course, the game suffered multiple delays during the course of its development. "We can also invest all the experience we've accumulated over the past two years in this sequel to make sure everything is going well," says Ubisoft in the translated press release. So, perhaps The Division 2 won't suffer from the same issues.

The Division 2 has yet to be officially announced.

Source: 4-Traders