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‘The Division 2’ Gets a Release Date For its First Episodic DLC
The Division 2 is like my eighth-grade class trip to Washington, D.C., but with guns, and later this month it will give players even more national landmarks to tour/tear up.
During its E3 2019 press conference, Ubisoft announced that the first part of the excellent loot-shooter’s episodic DLC would launch in July. As of today, Ubisoft has officially revealed that the release date for Episode 1: D.C. Outskirts: Expeditions will be July 23 for Year One Pass Holders. Everyone else will gain access a week later, on July 30.
In The Division 2’s weekly “State of the Game” livestream, Community Developer Chris Gansler said that owners of the season pass will have access to two new missions, “Manning National Zoo” and “Camp White Oak,” and the Expedition — a new PvE experience— along with all meta changes. Gansler described the weeklong pass holder exclusivity as an “early access” period.
When The Division 2’s first raid, Operation Dark Hours, debuted in May, many players criticized the lengthy eight-player mission’s lack of matchmaking and console players complained that it was far harder on PS4 and Xbox One than it was on PC. So, with the Episode 1, Ubisoft is adding the option to tackle the raid on Discovery Difficulty, which will introduce the ability to matchmake — a huge boon for players who don’t have seven friends regularly playing the game on the same console.
Additionally, the content drop will add two new exotics, new weapons, and flashlights and will tweak gear balancing, skill builds and crafting.
While the vast majority of Episode 1’s content is free to all players, Year 1 Pass Holders will get exclusive access to a pair of “Classified Assignments,” missions which will take agents to Central Aquarium and NSA Site B13.
It’s just like when some of my friends couldn’t afford to go on our class trip. Immersive!
Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor best known for his role in 1993’s Jurassic Park, has passed away this week at 78 years old. In a statement shared on Neill’s Instagram page this morning, the actor’s family said that his passing was “sudden and unexpected.”
Neill had been diagnosed with a rare blood cancer in 2022, but stated the following year that he was in remission. The family notes that he “remained cancer free” at the time of his passing.
The family statement reads, “It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia. Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life. The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free.
“They would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital for their incredible care. More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss.”
In addition to his iconic role as Dr. Alan Grant in the original Jurassic Park and the sequels Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World: Dominion, Sam Neill left an indelible mark on the horror genre with memorable roles in Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession, The Omen: The Final Conflict, John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness, and sci-fi horror favorite Event Horizon.
Sam Neill’s vast resume in film and television began in the early 1970s and also includes the films Sleeping Dogs, Enigma, The Good Wife, A Cry in the Dark, Dead Calm, The Hunt for Red October, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Hostage, The Jungle Book, Snow White: A Tale of Terror, The Horse Whisperer, Bicentennial Man, Daybreakers, Escape Plan, and Thor: Ragnarok.
Sam Neill is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.
Steven Spielberg said in a statement to Variety, “I owe a debt of gratitude to Roger Donaldson, Gilliam Armstrong, Graham Baker and Phillip Noyce for casting Sam Neill in the roles in which he was so brilliant that brought him to my attention and led to his playing Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park. Sam was exceptionally collaborative. It was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children. I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him.”
Spielberg adds, “Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world.”
Sam Neill in ‘Event Horizon’
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