Tom Clancy's The Division Becomes Ubisoft's Biggest New IP Within 24 Hours

Does a snowy, virus-infected New York City appeal to gamers? According to the sales figures of Tom Clancy's The Division, yes it does. Ubisoft has achieved their biggest new IP launch success yet and it all happened within 24 hours. That's a lot of activated agents.

This means the reigning champion in Ubisoft's roster has been dethroned. Until The Division came along it was Watch Dogs that was the publisher's best new property followed by the hooded Assassin's Creed franchise. The biggest new IP launch performance still remains with Bungie and Activision's Destiny. Remember this is 'new IP' and not just new launch, otherwise Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto win.

The Division is an action-RPG shooter set in an open-world New York City full of opportunistic rioters, escaped convicts, crazed sanitation workers and ruthless mercenaries. There's also the odd rogue agent (a fellow player) who might just unload buckshot right in your back after a sweet find in the Dark Zone, or simply stand in a doorway and stop everyone from leaving a safehouse. Jerks.

“The launch of The Division is a tremendous achievement for Ubisoft, and demonstrates our unrivaled capacity to create fantastic new game brands and transform them into entertainment blockbusters,” said Yves Guillemot, co-founder and CEO, Ubisoft. “This is a momentous day for Ubisoft, but more importantly it marks the start of millions of players’ enduring engagement in The Division’s game world, which we are confident they will love.”

It's not been all smooth sailing for The Division as it suffered some initial spluttering moments that almost any MMO or permanently online game tends to. The initial launch wave can easily crush server capacity and while it hasn't been as disastrous as some have been throughout gaming history there are still users getting stuck in queues or getting booted because of a connection loss.

There are other teething troubles that only the masses can reveal as a big problem, like just how much some people really enjoy ticking others off. A rather embarrassing troll exploit has been discovered for example where a player can stand in the doorway of the very first safehouse and prevent others leaving, and thus stop any progress. Another irritating yet amusing sight has been players literally queuing in-game to use a solitary laptop to 'activate' themselves as an agent. This is a mandatory step at the beginning of the game.

The Division is first-and-foremost an action-RPG and that means it plays by the rules of an RPG statistics system. Just because you landed a headshot for example doesn't mean you've instantly killed an enemy, but you did land more damage than you would have. It's more akin to how Gearbox Software's Borderlands treats running-and-gunning, although it's not anywhere near as hilarious or colourful.

Some highlights for The Division:

Ubisoft is beside itself right now and feel the stellar performance of The Division at launch is validating their 'games as a service' and believe this could herald even more titles going online. This is a mixed bag and clearly doesn't suit every occasion but The Division is an MMO and must be logged in at all times - there is no offline option for this action-RPG.

While the PvE side of things has plenty to keep you occupied it will eventually run out of content and arguably The Division only gets tougher from then on as the PvP-enabled Dark Zone suddenly beckons you with its promise of higher end gear. This all comes at the risk of players stabbing you in the back during operations to loot your injured self or while you wait for extraction to 'save' the gear you've collected. Thankfully only Dark Zone exclusive items freshly looted can be pinched and not your normal or previously saved treasures.

Ubisoft has outlined what to expect with their Season Pass (of course there's a season pass - of course there is) and it will be introducing more story-based content (PvE) as well as more Dark Zone related shenanigans. Those unswayed by the lure of a pass will still be getting free content and updated events just not as many. It should also be noted that camp Xbox gets the expansions a month earlier.

All these factors have been played well to create the interest that's landed Tom Clancy's The Division as Ubisoft's hottest new IP, but now they've got to prove it was worth it. Sadly Ubisoft's now-second biggest IP launch - Watch Dogs - burst the bubble of how revolutionary its mechanics and premise was, so can The Division avoid that same chilly fate from Chicago?

Tom Clancy's The Division is out now for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

• Tom Clancy's The Division (Game)