Enemy AI Design in Tom Clancy's The Division

In 2016 Tom Clancy's The Division brought players together in the war-torn streets of Manhattan fighting against a variety of enemy factions, as well as one another. Ubisoft's RPG-shooter carries a diverse range of enemies to keep the player on their toes. But unlike other games I've covered to-date, The Division needs to deal with the practical issues of being an online co-operative game and how to manage all sorts of AI systems for thousands of players across the world. In this first of a two-part series, I'm going to be looking at how developers Massive Entertainment sought to create a variety of interesting and challenging encounters throughout the world of The Division; how they designed their enemy opponents and manage their behaviours as thousands of players rush to battle online every day in the mean streets of New York City. After an outbreak of weaponised smallpox, New York city breaks down into chaos and is quarantined from the outside world until the contamination is contained and order is restored.