During a new interview, the developers of the original Division discussed its origins as an MMO like World of Warcraft.
The Division franchise has had a lot of promising updates in 2026, with a Definitive Edition for the first game shadowdropped in February and a roadmap for The Division 2 featuring crossplay, DLC, and a fresh extraction experience that arrived last month. However, the franchise was not always the third-person looter-shooter that we know and love today.
The Division MMO Footage Revealed by Ubisoft
Spotted by Kotaku, The Division’s World of Warcraft-style MMO origins were mentioned during a new video posted by Massive Entertainment featuring the devs of the original game. The developers first discussed their main combat loop for both games, OPE, which stands for Observe, Plan, and Execute. However, the developers took a while to reach that because when they started working on The Division, “it was still an MMO like World of Warcraft.
At this point, a short clip started playing, showcasing early development footage of the MMO version of The Division. It featured the player taking on multiple enemies while moving around with a dog companion that could attack them. The visual style was also very different, opting for a more vibrant setting rather than the dark and gritty version we received in the final product.
The developers also explained that at that point, the game didn’t include the skill component or traditional shooter aspects. They also mentioned that the game had hotbars during its early stages of development. Interested readers can check out the full interview below:
In other news, The Division 2 has skyrocketed in terms of player count since Ubisoft dropped the new roadmap for 2026. Do you like what The Division franchise is today, or should the developers have stuck to its MMO origins? Leave your thoughts down in the comments, and join the official Insider Gaming Discord server.
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