The Division may have the trappings of a shooter, but it's an online RPG underneath. Game director Ryan Barnard recently explained just how deep those RPG roots go, even including mention of larger scale end-game content.

"We are an RPG first and foremost," Barnard said in an Ubisoft Blog Q&A. "So the emphasis for the game is definitely on skill/talent synergies along with your weapon characteristics. We are a Clancy game, we are also an open-world game but really we’re an RPG first. Gear will be important, levels will be important, modifications to weapons will be important… everything that makes a fantastic RPG will be important to the game."

Barnard outlined a few examples of RPG mainstays, like loot gathering and decisions that impact the world. When describing end-game content, though, he goes into talking about multiple four-man groups going after a single goal, which sounds very much like traditional MMO raids.

"For retention and the end game, 'group-plus' content will be really important," he said. "I can tell you that there will be multi-group content. I can't get into it too much, but I can say there will be at least eight-player content."

We previously compared the multiplayer to Dark Souls, given the way inventory is managed upon death. But group-based content gives it a new wrinkle, especially as the end-game will apparently have larger encounters to deal with.