14 DAY TRIAL // Video game developer Massive is announcing that it has managed to identify the cause of the bug which has caused some player characters to disappear when the 1.1 update for The Division was deployed and believes that it can bring them back for gamers, although those affected will have to wait until the next maintenance period.
On the official forums the studio explains that, "The issue was caused by a malfunctioning server that couldn’t synchronize character data correctly and corrupted them instead. The game client was unable to read this corrupted data, and simply assumed that the character didn’t exist. Once this has been identified, we were able to restore the server to its normal functions, thus ensuring that the issue will no longer occur for other players."
The characters are not gone but when Ubisoft will restore them it will bring them back exactly as they were on April 12 at 9 AM CET and the company states that any progress made on other characters associated with the same account will also be deleted.
Presumably the fix will be introduced when the next maintenance period for The Division takes place, which means on Thursday, April 19 at some point in the morning.
The team also says that it is thankful for the help that the player base has offered in identifying the issue and the patience they are showing as they wait for the downtime that will eliminate it.
The Division is getting ready for more free content in May
Ubisoft has introduced the first Falcon Lost incursion this month and a second one is coming in less than 30 days, with the team saying that it plans to add a number of other mechanics to the multiplayer shooter while eliminating more problems that the community flags.
Ubisoft needs to make no more mistakes because it can lose the trust of gamers if any major bugs, like the disappearing characters or the lack of daily missions, affects The Division.
In June of this year the first paid downloadable content pack for the title, called Underground, is set to arrive for all players, adding a new sewer system under the city of New York to explore and capable new enemies to pose a bigger challenge to players.
Another two paid DLC deliveries will take place in the fall and winter in order to keep gamers engaged with The Division, the most successful new IP that Ubisoft has ever launched.