Ubisoft is currently promoting the visual and practical strengths of its "Snowdrop" engine, an always-on real-time development toolset built for Tom Clancy's The Division. Given the primary audience attending the Game Developers Conference, Ubisoft is focusing more on the engine than the post-apocalyptic nitty gritty of the game itself, which is being made for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

With The Division's progress and 2014 release being questioned in recent rumors, though, I asked Ubi-owned developer Massive Entertainment for some clarity on how it's being built. According to Rodrigo Cortes, Massive's Brand Art Director, "game and technology is the same," and it "never goes offline."