The Division, Splinter Cell, and Ghost Recon crossover called BattleCat possibly leaked
An Overwatch style objective competitive game in the Tom Clancy universe?
A Tom Clancy crossover game featuring The Division, Splinter Cell, and Ghost Recon could be on the way according to a leak.
The supposed leak comes from Twitter user Zer0Bytes_, who shared official-looking images from the game, referred to as The Division BattleCat, though it is not clear if that is a project name or the actual name of the game. The photos hint towards a role-based player vs player first-person shooter game with different modes.
Update: The images have been taken offline, with Zer0Bytes explaining that they were removed as a result of a DMCA request. Though this means it will be harder to take a look at BattleCat yourself ahead of whatever Ubisoft has planned, it does lend credence to the notion that the images were legit in the first place.
Original story continues
Across the images, four factions are shown off, where the crossover elements become clear. One of the factions, called Echelon is very clearly taking its cues from the Splinter Cell franchise. Two characters are seen sporting the Sam Fisher goggles, and their defining trait is their stealth and subterfuge. Elsewhere Ghost Recon Breakpoint's Wolves are seen as battle-hardened mercenaries that can take a lot of punishment.
pic.twitter.com/jv4CzZuAghJune 6, 2021
The Cleaners are DPS specialists who deal specifically in fire and creating chaos on the battlefield. Lastly, Outcasts are the final faction shown, and are the healer class, though they do more healing after doing damage.
It's never stated across the images, but it would appear that these factions would be mixable, creating rounded teams of tanks, healers and damage dealers.
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If this is beginning to sound a little Overwatch-y, well that makes sense as one of the modes sounds very much like Blizzard's hero shooter. In one of the images, an Escort mode is called out specifically. This will see attackers trying to push an objective through checkpoints, while defenders try to stop progress.
The game does seem to feature a more traditional arena-type mode too called Ringleader. Players drop rings when killed that can be picked up. The player on each team with the most rings becomes the Ringleader and must hold onto the rings for 30 seconds to bank them, while the other team tries to hunt them down.
Zer0Bytes_ adds that the game has been in 'testing' since around January. It's not entirely clear if that is referring to internal testing or if Ubisoft has been inviting players to play in a secret environment. It's also not clear what the original purpose of these images are, or exactly how Zer0Bytes_ got a hold of the images. This may be an elaborate fake, but there is a lot of convincing evidence here, complete with assets and details. Still, until Ubisoft officially comment on the leak, it's best to take this with a pinch of salt.
The Ubisoft Forward E3 2021 press conference is set to go live on Saturday, June 12 at 12PM PT/8PM BST. If BattleCat is to surface, it will almost certainly be here.
If you love shooters, check out our list of the Best FPS Games you can buy.
Patrick Dane is currently the Guides Editor at TechRadar. However, he was formerly a freelance games journalist writing for sites and publications such as GamesRadar, Metro, IGN, Eurogamer, PC Gamer, and the International Business Times, among others. He was also once the Managing Editor for Bleeding Cool.