Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint was officially announced yesterday during a streaming event. We wrote all about the stream and the game, including many of its new features and mechanics, as well as the editions available to pre-order from Ubisoft's website. Sadly, one important detail appears to have skipped that announcement - the requirement for Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint to always be online.
Today Ubisoft confirmed through the game's verified Twitter account that Breakpoint will require an active Internet connection, just like Tom Clancy's The Division and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege. This means that Breakpoint is an "always online" game, whereas its predecessor, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands, wasn't. You can see the tweet for yourself below.
https://twitter.com/GhostRecon/status/1126807982057115650
"Always online" is an odd match for a game that's trying out more features such as dialogue options and increased focus on solo play that would fit well in a single-player game, especially compared to its last iteration. This might have to do with the necessity for cross-progression between the main area and PvP, in order to help reduce the chance of cheating and the use of trainers or cheat engines for advantage.
Always Online game launches are often rocky. Whether it's MMOs like World of Warcraft receiving expansions, or the big 2012 disaster of SimCity by Electronic Arts, there are many times this has occurred. Ubisoft themselves have experienced this, as it happened with the launch of The Division in 2016 with server issues and numerous bugs.
In related news, you might be interested to learn more about the reasons Ubisoft had to move the Ghost Recon series to a fictional setting, and what that means for the franchise, tying in with the tentative politics in Far Cry 5 and The Division 2. Talking with GameInformer they claim that this didn't have to do with the pushback they received there or famously with Ghost Recon Wildlands causing the French Embassy receive a complaint from the Bolivian government. Instead, writer Emil Daubon stated:
"Creating a fictional setting gives us unmeasurable license to expand on the world. We can create a variety of terrain with a variety of physical and social landscapes that you have to navigate, and we can expand on it as we choose. That's a really exciting aspect."You can read more about Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint in our announcement report. And you can now sign up for the beta version here.
What do you think of Breakpoint going the "always online" route? Does it suit the game and will decrease cheating, or does it detract from the overall experience? Let us know in the comments below!
