Ubisoft has apologized for a The Division 2 private beta e-mail that made light of the government shutdown in the United States. The e-mail was sent out with the subject line “Come see what a real government shutdown looks like,” alluding to the fact that The Division 2 takes place in the United States following the collapse of the government and most facets of modern society.
At the moment, the United States is engaged in a short reprieve from a government shutdown that began just a few days before Christmas 2018. The shutdown kicked off largely to a demand from President Donald J. Trump that a portion of the federal budget should be allocated towards his proposal for a wall to cover the Southern border of the United States. President Trump’s wall was proposed in order to curtail illegal immigration and other crimes like drug trafficking and terrorism. A bill was subsequently signed 35 days into the shutdown to restore the government to business for a three week period.
The e-mail from The Division 2 was clearly making light of this recent government shutdown, although it appears that it was not sent through the proper channels going by an apology issued by Ubisoft:
Hello,
A marketing email promoting Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 was sent in error today. This was a grave breakdown in process and we apologize for this error and the offensive subject line of the email. We recognize the very real impact of the United States government shut down on thousands of people and did not intend to make light of the situation.
– The Ubisoft team
Reactions to the e-mail sent out by The Division 2 team were mixed. While some on ResetEra took offense (with one user calling it “tone deaf”), others stated that they enjoyed a humorous message in their inbox. One user reportedly is affected by the government shutdown and stated that he “still thought it was funny.”
Like it or hate it, Ubisoft thinks they’ve made a misstep with their recent marketing e-mail and have appropriately apologized for their perceived error. You can read more about The Division 2 beta here. The Division 2 is set to launch on March 15, 2019.
