Tom Clancy’s The Division developer Ubisoft Massive is being aided by some 40% of Ubisoft Reflections’ staff. It’s the same team behind Driver: San Francisco.
In an interview with Develop Ubisoft Reflections managing director Pauline Jacquey revealed that “about 40 per cent” of the studio is helping Massive with The Division.
Jacquey explained, “We’re working on all of the game’s systems: main characters, enemies, RPG pillars, building Manhattan, online components, and so on. It gives us a very broad and wide input on the game, but it’s not as limited as the naval battles on Assassin’s Creed III.”
“We’ve brought a very good design and technological strength to The Division,” she added. “Massive’s team is bigger, but ours is still significant, and its competency in art, technology and design is really showing.
“There’s so much love for this game at Reflections. Our guys are absolutely crazy about it. So for some of them it’s a life achievement being able to participate in the development of the game.”
When asked if this collaboration signalled trouble in The Division’s development, Jacquey countered, “That’s absolutely not the case. This is part of a global model that Ubisoft has been deploying in the past seven or eight years.
“It’s also classic team size management. You don’t want your team to be too big when you’re in the initial phase of conception, when you need a lot of agility. But when you’re in full production – and given that the game’s scope is gigantic – it needs a big team behind it.”
