The newly formed LucasFilm Games has announced that it’s hopping into business bed with Ubisoft, and the first game from this partnership will be a sandbox game developed by The Division’s Massive Entertainment. These are still early days though, and Massive is now on a recruitment drive to get the right staff ready for the project that will be helmed by creative director Julian Gerighty, director of The Division 2 and The Crew.

Warlords of New York is a massive leap forward for The Division 2, a fun diversion that aims to be less repetitive and more engaging. There’s a big picture being developed here, one that’ll make the trademark grind of The Division 2 more addictive than ever before as civil war rages on in the streets of the divided states of America.

Ubisoft wants to keep The Division 2’s servers full with a constant supply of fresh content that won’t take a whole year to get right. They’re planning to throw a few spanners into the game from as early as next week, when the first major update rolls out and ups the difficulty ante as the focus shifts towards the endgame space.

As a first step towards a future of more live service content, The Division 2 already feels amazingly complete. It works from day one, its various systems are staggeringly deep and its combat is in a class of its own. Everything else that’s still to come over the next couple of years? That’s a satisfying cherry on top of an already massive sundae of excellence.

My favourite part of The Division 2 so far? Washington DC. Sandbox games aren’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future, but there’s something special about a game that absolutely nails its environment. Having a metropolis filled with character, beauty and a sense of isolation that highlights its design is something special, an idea which The Division 2 simply excels at.

Massive Entertainment doesn’t just want to create another game as a service. They want The Division 2 to be a proper hobby, and a partnership for fans to become invested in.

I missed the Division 2’s open beta this weekend past, because I was busy with other stuff. From all accounts, it was pretty good, though it really does seem to be a more refined version of the last game in a new setting, than any grand, new experience. There's now an open beta.

That first foray into New York in The Division will likely see scores of agents leave that city soon, as Ubisoft is pushing forward on a sequel later this year. And this time, there’s going to be a lot more to do after the credits have rolled.