The Division 2 isn't on Steam yet but it does have an unlisted store page on the platform. Now, it's been discovered that Ubisoft Support made "Looking For Group" posts on the Steam Community forums — a platform that doesn't have the game.
Gamers first got their hands on The Division 2 when it launched in March 2019. Unfortunately, some PC players on Steam were disappointed to discover that it was going to be an Epic Games Store exclusive. The game still has a Steam AppID, though — while it doesn't have an active store page, it does have Steam Community features available such as discussions, news, guides, and more.
Now, it's been discovered that Ubisoft Support has used the Steam Community forums for a "Looking For Group" post. Again, it bears mentioning that The Division 2 is not yet available on Steam. The discovery was made on the /r/pcgaming subreddit. Although the thread in question is now deleted, someone managed to grab an archive of the original post.
Why Did Ubisoft Support Use the Steam Community Forums for The Division 2?
The Steam Community discussion implored players to post their Ubisoft ID, spoken language, server, and what kind of players they're looking to connect with. An LFG post isn't entirely unusual on a discussion forum, but it is somewhat strange to see it on the forums for a platform that still does not yet have the game.
The Division 2 currently has several places for players to meet and discuss the game. There is the game's official forums on Ubisoft's website and a robust community on Reddit and Discord, a portion of which is dedicated to finding other players to play with. The Epic Games Store, however, does not yet have forums for its individual games as Steam and some other storefronts do; Epic Games has previously encouraged developers to link external communities on store pages.
"Epic doesn’t plan to host third party game forums but we encourage developers to link to independent forums (like Reddit) on their store pages," read a 2019 tweet from Epic Games' CEO Tim Sweeney. "As with Fortnite, we encourage forums (like Reddit.con/r/FortniteBR) that are independent of stores and platforms."
Some Steam users were bewildered by this particular post on the Steam Community discussion. Suffice it to say, they had some choice words in response to the post.
"Is this a joke?" read one comment. "Release the game on steam then we might play it."
"The game is available only on Uplay and EGS, so it would have a better visibility if you post this on Epic Games Store forums...oh wait!" read another comment.
Why was the post made on Steam, then? It was explained by the same Ubisoft developer who made it in a subsequent comment in another thread.
"The post was my idea and I decided to remove it in the end post as it was not well received by the community and to be honest went down like a lead balloon," read a comment from Ubi-Milky on the Steam Community discussion forums for the game. "I noticed some players were looking for friends to play with on the Uplay/Ubisoft Connect platform, so thought it may be helpful to these players who preferred to discuss the game in the Steam forums as they are obviously still active."
"With all that in mind, the game has not been released on Steam, so I understand the sentiment behind your comments, it came from a place of good will and was not meant to offend anyone," the comment continued. "Thank you for responding to this and thank you for continuing to show an interest in the franchise."
Ubisoft has still not yet announced The Division 2 Steam release date. For now, PC users can explore the Steam Community page for the game while they wait for an official announcement. You can buy The Division 2 for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Stadia starting at $29.99 or your regional equivalent.
When do you think The Division 2 will come to Steam? Do you care about PC exclusivity on certain storefronts? Let us know in the comments below!
