“It’s shaping up to be a monster.” That blunt line from Julian Gerighty, executive producer on The Division franchise, is as close as we’ve come to a proper status update on The Division 3 — and it came during the New Game+ Showcase rather than at a dedicated Ubisoft event.
A tease loaded with baggage
Gerighty's brief comments do three things at once: confirm the project is actively being worked on, promise ambition, and raise expectations. He doubled down on the idea that Massive Entertainment is aiming for something that could "have as big an impact as Division 1 was." Fans will remember how the original Division's E3 reveal and subsequent 2016 launch created a big cultural ripple for looter-shooters; Ubisoft clearly wants that lightning again.
Still, there are frustrating silences. No footage, no release window, and almost nothing concrete about setting or systems. Given The Division series’ history — New York for the first game, Washington, D.C. for the second — speculation is rampant about where the next entry will take players, but Gerighty kept his lips sealed.
Why the cautious optimism matters
Massive is juggling a lot. The studio shifted resources after Star Wars Outlaws underperformed, ran internal restructuring and even offered a voluntary transition program to some staff while refocusing on The Division franchise and the Snowdrop engine. Ubisoft has also seen several high-profile projects and studios reworked in recent years, which adds pressure on any marquee follow-up.
The Division 2 remains in active support, with the upcoming Survivors expansion reportedly reimagining the extraction-style gameplay that helped define the first title. That extraction focus places The Division alongside a small clutch of tense, loot-driven shooters; contemporary launches such as the recent extraction-focused Arc Raiders show there’s an appetite for that kind of design when it’s done well.
Massive has tried to signal continuity as well as evolution. Gerighty reiterated that the series’ pillars — online co-op, deep RPG systems, and large real-world open worlds — won’t be abandoned, even as the team promises innovations that could surprise players.
What to watch this year
There are a few natural moments when Ubisoft could choose to lift the veil. 2026 marks the franchise’s tenth anniversary, a symbolic milestone that could serve as a reveal platform. PCGamesN also reported that Massive plans to fly in members of its Elite Task Force community for early looks and playable builds in the near future; those sessions could surface the first meaningful footage or details.
Platform talk is part of the conversation too. While Ubisoft hasn’t named platforms, it’s reasonable to expect a current-gen focus — and possibly new hardware tie-ins. If you’re thinking about upgrading to a next-generation console ahead of future reveals, retailers now offer bundles and refreshed hardware like the PlayStation 5 Pro for those who want the highest-end experience.
A reminder about risk and potential
The Division 3’s promise comes shadowed by recent stumbles across Ubisoft and the industry: high development costs, restructuring, and the fallout from canceled spin-offs like Heartland. That said, Massive still has the franchise knowledge and a passionate community on its side. The team’s wording — “shaping up to be a monster” — feels less like marketing puffery and more like an admission that they know the bar is high and are trying to clear it.
If you want something to tide you over until official reveals, keep an eye on how extraction and looter-shooter design continue to evolve; the scene is busy, and innovations elsewhere often bleed into bigger franchises. There’s no guarantee The Division 3 will recapture the exact cultural moment of the first game, but between fan demand, Massive’s focus, and a slowly consolidating vision, it’s one of the more interesting big-budget multiplayer games quietly brewing in 2026.
For now, patience is the watchword — and every small tease will be parsed for clues until Ubisoft decides to show the monster in the daylight.
Related coverage: if you want to compare how extraction shooters are landing right now, read about Arc Raiders’ launch and its tense extraction design. You can also follow platform developments like how the PlayStation Portal can stream PS5 libraries as the ecosystem around big AAA releases keeps shifting.