Since The Division 2 was officially announced earlier this year, announcements for the game has been hitting all of the correct beats with players. Fans were delighted when it was confirmed that the shooter would be taking the action to Washington D.C., while the confirmation that the game can be played entirely solo has also appeased less social players. However, a new revelation about the title has dashed some of that goodwill.
The controversy surrounds The Divison 2's special editions. Ubisoft opened pre-orders for the game today, detailing the game's different editions in the process. While the bonuses include expected benefits such as exclusive cosmetics and early access to the game itself, it also includes additional stash space. Stash space (or inventory space) determine a player's ability to stash and store their loot, and running out of it means overwriting gear sets.
Returning fans of The Divison aren't happy about this. In a post on Twitter, YouTuber Skill Up said that offering extra stash space as a pre-order bonus is "absolutely beyond f--ked," explaining that stash space is one of the "most precious" resources players have and it should never be sold. Yannick Banchereau, the game's senior community developer responded to confirm that the Ultimate and Phoenix Editions of The Division 2 do indeed include the Elite Agent pack which includes extra stash space. However, Banchereau didn't respond to the criticisms of this offer, even when asked about it again by Skill Up.
It is important to note that Ubisoft has yet to reveal exactly how much stash space will be on offer for players of either the Standard or Ultimate Editions of the game. Banchereau does note that more information about this will be revealed "later" though no specific date is provided.
But even so, it's understandable why so many core fans of The Division are upset by this. Even though developer Massive Entertainment made several key changes to the game over the course of its lifetime, including major quality of life changes that required the delay of an expansion, storage issues have continued to plague committed fans.
Fans are arguing that Ubisoft must know of the longstanding storage space issue, and if that is indeed the case, the fact that the publisher is offering additional storage as a paid extra and not a feature available to all, is being taken as a slap in the face. This is especially the case as other initiatives, such as offering free DLC during the game's first year, had been seen as a move in the right direction. It's currently unclear whether Ubisoft or Massive have plans to address this, but information may be available when the team shares more about the game's inventory in general, as noted by Banchereau.
The Division 2 is currently scheduled to launch on March 25, 2019 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.