The Division looks breathtaking, but like all Ubisoft games, it has been downgraded since its initial unveil three years ago, at E3 2013. And while the PC version looks great, there is this lingering feeling that it could look better- but it doesn’t.
That is because Ubisoft doesn’t want the PC version looking too much better than the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 builds. Speaking in a video posted by Team Epiphany, a Ubisoft developer explained that
“one good thing about The Division is we’ve always considered the PC as a separate platform. I’ve worked on projects before that the PC version’s a port from a console so it carries that limitation over, but we’ve always been in the mind that we’ll have a dedicated PC build, so it hasn’t really held it back too much.
“We do have to kind of keep it in check with the consoles, because it would kind of be unfair just to push it so far away from them,” he continued. “But it’s been good having a dedicated PC build for this game. I’m really happy that we’re pushing the PC build as much as we are. There’s a lot more customized options and stuff than the console.”
The PC version of The Division looks great, don’t get me wrong- and the game itself looks like one of the best looking titles on the market currently. But my question here is, why exactly do Ubisoft worry so much about parity? Why can they simply not release a game on separate platforms, playing to each of those platforms’ individual strengths, instead of trying to hold back what can be superior builds?
The Division launches in March on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.