The Division gets a developer just to build its weapons
Red Storm joins Ubisoft Reflections on Massive's upcoming open-world game.
Red Storm has joined the growing team of developers working on post-apocalyptic open-world action game The Division.
The North Carolina-based Red Storm, famous for making a number of Ghost Recon games including Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, will work with principal The Division developer Massive Entertainment, based in Sweden on the game's weapons. Ubisoft Reflections, the Newcastle-based developer of Driver: San Francisco, is also working on the game.
In a Ubisoft blog post, communications manager Gary Steinman said Massive went on the hunt for additional Ubisoft studio support last autumn, and Red Storm was at the top of its list because of its experience with Tom Clancy games. Massive needed a studio to develop an authentic arsenal of weapons, and Red Storm's weapons team - it has an entire team whose focus is weapon design - was available.
Red Storm's primary focus is the artwork for The Division's weapons, and it has three dedicated artists in North Carolina working with a team member in Malmo, Sweden. But Red Storm is also having a say over the gameplay for weapons.
"We know that that we can build absolutely the most authentic piece of equipment, right down to the millimeter," said Red Storm producer Tony Sturtzel. "And the guys who are coming in from the gameplay side maybe want to push the envelope a bit, which is a great jumping off point to push the collaboration, because we have to get together regularly and talk about it from both sides."
Of course, Ubisoft has form when it comes to multi-studio collaborations on its big titles. A number of developers come together to work on the various aspects of the annual Assassin's Creed series, and Ubisoft Reflections is also helping Ubisoft Montreal build Watch Dogs.
As for The Division, it's still down for release in 2014.
