‘The Division’ Gets Live-Action Short Film On Amazon Prime
The promotion of Tom Clancy’s The Division continues to be ratcheted up by Ubisoft. A live-action short film was released Tuesday to Amazon Prime to help pump up the release of the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC open-world shooter, which is about a month and a half away.
The Division: Agent Origins was produced by Ubisoft in collaboration with YouTube content creators Corridor Digital, RocketJump, and devinsupertramp. The 31-minute live-action film serves as a prelude to the action gamers can expect when The Division releases on March 8.
An Amazon Prime subscription is needed to watch the full live-action short. Amazon Prime costs $99 a year after a one-month free trial. Those eligible for Amazon Student can get Prime for just $49.99 a year with a six-month free trial.
Agent Origins follows four Division agents as they explore the backstory of Manhattan in the grips of an epidemic. PC Gamer and other gaming outlets were treated to an event in Los Angeles to watch the short film, where they were given background information on the short as well as the game.
The Division takes inspiration from a June 2001 simulation conducted by the U.S. military called Operation Dark Winter. This operation was a war gaming exercise to determine the challenges and investigate possible responses to a coordinated biological weapon attack on the U.S. population. Unsurprisingly, the exercise found the country is not well-equipped to handle such an attack, as public and private services can become overwhelmed.
The setup of The Division is considered to be one of the possible response solutions to a major outbreak. Highly-trained secret agents are embedded in the general population ready to be activated when society has a complete breakdown.
Agent Origins follows the four agents from different walks of life working together to battle gangs of criminals. Some of the gangs are formed by inmates who escaped from Riker’s Island Prison following the outbreak.
“We’re excited to be able to offer our content across multiple platforms,” said Corridor Digital’s Niko Pueringer. “It has been an adventure to bring the world of Tom Clancy’s The Division to life.”
“Agent Origins and this first of its kind collaboration with Amazon is exciting and we’re thrilled that Amazon Prime members will be able to take advantage of watching exclusive footage that won’t be available anywhere else,” said Adam Novickas, the VP of marketing at Ubisoft. “Agent Origins will provide the opportunity to introduce the game lore to consumers and immerse Amazon members into the world of The Division before the game’s anticipated release.”
Corridor Digital is famous for shorts such as real-life Grand Theft Auto and GoPro Superman. Meanwhile, RocketJump is perhaps most well-known for Video Game High School and for its recent series on Hulu. Finally, devinsupertramp has an assortment of crazy stunt videos in his YouTube channel but also original shorts such as the Mad Max GoKart Paintball War.
Live-action story trailers are nothing new. Fallout 4 received a couple, for example. In fact, Microsoft produced two live-action series turned films to support the release of Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Halo 5: Guardians.
The Division is set for a March 8 release on the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Microsoft’s console will receive the closed beta first on January 28 followed by the other two platforms a day later. Entry can be gained either through taking a chance by signing up on the game’s website or guaranteeing entry by pre-ordering the game from major retailers.
Did you watch The Division: Agent Origins? Share your thoughts on the live-action short film below.
[Image via Ubisoft]
