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There are various articles online that state Tom Clancy's The Division is a New IP.

The Official Site includes the following:

Today, The Division Beta ended and we’re proud to share that more than 6.4 million of you explored the pandemic-stricken streets of New York City, making it the biggest beta ever for a new game brand on current generation platforms.

Various other articles repeat the news by using IP rather than game brand. VG24/7 reports the news with the opening line:

Players made The Division’s open beta the biggest beta of a new IP on new consoles.

Gamespot has an article that includes this observation:

The Division is technically a new IP, though it carries the familiar Tom Clancy name.

This is repeated in more detail on Geek:

All of this is rather impressive for a new IP. However, it should be noted that though The Division is technically a new IP, it is still under the umbrella of the Tom Clancy name. Whether or not this contributed to the beta’s popularity is unknown, but it is worth mentioning regardless.

My conclusion from this game alone is that although the new game shares elements of the IP from previous Tom Clancy games (including the name, game engine and other elements), it is considered a new IP because it has a new story unrelated to other games.

However, if you apply this to other games you don't get the same conclusion. Take the Far Cry game series also from the same publishers. Almost every single game has a completely unrelated story (even more so with Far Cry Primal).

What makes a game New IP?

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  • I guess "Mario Kart" would be a different IP from "Super Mario Bros", because they're completely different games, despite both having "Mario" in the name and having mostly the same characters.
    – Nolonar
    Commented Mar 7, 2016 at 20:42
  • I don't think Mario Kart would be a new IP, it would be more under the spin off category since it just "expands" on an already existant universe.
    – Karlyr
    Commented Mar 7, 2016 at 20:51

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It is, usually, as you pointed out, when the story/lore of the game is significantly different (or brand new). If the game can't tie properly and neatly to any other previous title from the same developper (or to a movie, or book, or anything that is pre-existant in fact) the game will be considered a new Intellectual Property (IP). If it ties to anything else it isn't.

This term just "recently" made an appearance because, nowadays, games are usually based on something pre-existant. Previously, it was either half-n-half or even on the more brand new content side. I won't make an exhaustive list but recent "new IPs" would be something like :

  • Overwatch
  • Splatoon
  • Undertale

EDIT:

But on the other hand, Hearthstone is not a new IP because it creates a game over an already existent universe.

For more information, please look into :

What does IP stand for?

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