The Division Resurgence: what Ubisoft's mobile looter shooter is like at launch

The Division Resurgence arrived on Android and iOS in late March 2026 as a free online looter shooter developed by Ubisoft's French studio. After several weeks with the launch version, here's what it offers, how it runs and why, for now, it's hard to recommend without reservations.

Platforms and performance

A later update added an early-access PC client through Ubisoft Connect, around 16 GB, that removes most graphics limits but keeps a 60 FPS cap. The developers allow emulators without blocking them, though they don't offer support for them. In our MuMu tests performance was acceptable, if behind Destiny: Rising, which is optimised for that emulator.

Unlike the PC entries, which use the Snowdrop engine, Resurgence runs on Unreal Engine 4. The Android install is about 9.7 GB.

There are three control schemes: touch, controller and keyboard and mouse. The last worked poorly in the emulator, and only the touch layout allows deep customisation.

Visuals are decent for mobile on high settings, but the game forces a choice: high graphics at 30 FPS or low graphics at 60 FPS. Graphics quality also reduces the complexity of objects in the world. That's the main reason we wouldn't recommend it until more options are unlocked.

Story and open world

The plot sits between the first and second The Division. You play one of the first agents fighting the outbreak, and the new enemy is the Freemen faction, whose storyline wraps up when you defeat their leader, King Arthur. The setting is a snowy, partial Manhattan: the left half of the original map.

The world is fully online, so you regularly run into other players doing activities, fighting patrols or just idling. Points of interest include:

• 7 safe zones with NPCs and storage.
• 4 landmarks that double as fast-travel points.
• Loot containers, upgrade chests and abandoned shops.
• Collectibles and an Echo mini-game.

Enemy factions are the Cleaners, the Rioters and the Freemen.

World activities

Five repeatable activities sit in fixed locations and reset once completed: supply capture, hostage rescue, deal disruption, outpost restoration and enemy hideouts. Supply capture is slow and fails if you take any damage. Hideouts come in normal and challenge difficulty, with new instances appearing periodically. Elite patrols, which drop skill-point chests, are very rare.

Classes and combat

Resurgence offers five classes, one unlocked through a story mission:

• Tech Operator: drones, up to six at once.
• Demolitionist: mortar, sticky mine and grenade launcher.
• Bulwark: shield, shotgun and stun device.
• Vanguard: pulses and cover reinforcement.
• Field Medic: damage over time or healing.

Each class has two swappable specialisations with 16-node trees that can be reset for free. Combat is cover-based; there's no armour repair, only temporary armour and health from perks, and medkits have recharging charges. Abilities run on cooldowns, except the ultimate, which charges in combat. Enemies wear coloured armour that calls for specific damage types, which adds a nice tactical layer.

Gear and crafting

You have two weapon slots with limited ammo. Gear provides three core stats — firepower, durability and engineering — plus secondary stats and perks. Upgrades include level-ups, random stat rerolls, accessories, weapon mastery, tactical augments and tier increases. Crafting takes real time: 24 hours by default and 16 at clan stations.

Monetisation

There are three currencies: a paid premium one, a phoenix currency earned in play and an encrypted currency obtained either way. The shop is split into offers, bundles with weekly limits, encrypted goods, character cosmetics and weapon skins. There's a standard gacha with five sets and tiered odds, a cosmetic gacha using premium currency only — with rising cost and no duplicates per banner — and a 50-rank battle pass with free and paid tracks.

Progression: the big problem

The story is gated by character level, a common tactic in Chinese MMOs and gacha games. On top of that, repeatable activities have a daily XP cap, so reaching the current level cap of 40 takes several days no matter what.

Clans and PvP

Clans have bases upgraded with contribution points. PvP offers a 4v4 capture mode with normalised stats and the Dark Zone, a 20-minute extraction mode that is the only steady source of some class mods.

Verdict

Resurgence's best qualities are its persistent world and character models that outshine even The Division 2. Its worst is the mix of graphics caps, XP limits, level gates and random gear upgrades, which drains interest before you reach the endgame. Worth keeping an eye on, but it's best to wait for Ubisoft to open up the graphics options.