New York City has been the home of countless fictional attacks, whether its a giant gorilla, superheroes, giant monsters, zombies, or vampires — the city has seen its fare share of fake attacks, as well as one very real one fifteen years ago.
The Division, Ubisoft's upcoming RPG-shooter, is based in a post-pandemic (or post-endemic, Ubisoft hasn't detailed this aspect of the game yet) New York City, weeks after a disease is spread throughout the city via money from a mysterious terror group. The link between The Division and the attacks of September 11th come down to New York City being the home of both.
Michelle Ehrhardt of Kill Screen (via Destructoid) took to an event held by Ubisoft showcasing The Division with something more on her mind — a link between the two events.
Speaking with Julian Gerighty, the associate creative director on The Division, Ehrhardt pressed for information regarding The Division and its "obvious comparison to 9/11."
“I don’t think even the parallel between this game scenario and 9/11 exists,” replied Gerighty.
Ehrhardt, doubtful of Gerighty asked again for further clarification, “So you didn’t take September 11th into consideration when making the game?”
“It’s the first time I’ve ever been asked about it, and it hasn’t really crossed any of the meetings that I’ve done on it before," explained Gerighty. “At the end of the day, it’s a videogame, it’s an entertainment product… There’s no particularly politicaly message with it.”
Ubisoft took care to make an authentic experience when it came to a post-pandemic world and it just so happened that they chose New York City to be the home of their game. It might be because the developers are based in Montreal, so they were not as affected by the event or they just picked a popular location for the setting of their game.
Either way, it seems almost silly to attempt to draw a connection between the two, without drawing the same connection with every film that destroys New York too.
Ubisoft announced today plans for an open beta for The Division later this month.
