‘The Division’ Beta: What PS4, Xbox One, And PC Players Need To Know

The Division beta is ready to drop on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. What does Ubisoft have in store and what should players expect? Read on to find out about the third-person open-world shooter.

When does The Division Beta start and end?

Xbox One owners have 24-hour early access to The Division beta. It will go live Thursday, January 28, at 4 a.m. ET / 1 a.m. PT. PlayStation 4 and PC owners can join in Friday starting at 7 a.m. ET / 4 a.m. PT.

The beta will last until Sunday, January 31. Ubisoft hasn’t announced an exact time.

How can you get in the beta?

This is technically a closed beta, so access is somewhat restricted. Ubisoft has been handing codes out freely via Instagram and Twitter. You can also sign up to a waiting list on the game’s official site.

You can guarantee access to The Division beta by pre-ordering the game from major retailers such as Amazon, GameStop, and Best Buy. You can always cancel the pre-order if you do not find the beta satisfying and Amazon does not charge your account until the game ships.

Can I preload the beta?

Yes. After you’ve redeemed your beta code on The Division website you will receive another code for the actual download. Redeem that code on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, or Uplay for PC.

Note that the beta is a 28GB download and a Uplay account is required.

Beta players will have the ability to create and customize their own character and access to the first story mission available in the game. This can be played solo or co-operatively with up to four players on normal or hard difficulty. Players can explore the base of operations along with a handful of social spaces, though there won’t be much upgrading for the base with only mission available.

Be careful though, there are various random bad guys in the streets that you’ll encounter randomly. Additionally, you will not gain access to the base until a group of enemies are cleared. You’ll be able to unlock the different wings of the base and choose missions that will provide upgrade for the wing and your character.

The Dark Zone, The Division‘s free-for-all PVP zone with the best loot, is also playable.

The level cap is level 8 and progress will not transfer over from the beta to the game’s full release on March 8.

What is the Dark Zone?

This is the instanced PVP area of The Division and can be entered through several locations. Some of these locations are security gates, others are fences that can be climbed.

For the beta, The Division will have Dark Zone instances for players between levels 4-7 and those at level 8.

AI-controlled enemies will be part of the Dark Zone, but engaging other players is optional. Note that you will be marked as a Rogue Agent if you attack others and will have a bounty placed on your head. Defending yourself against attacks from other players will not give you the Rogue Agent designation.

How does loot work?

There are five different quality levels of loot.

• White – Worn
• Green – Standard
• Blue – Specialized
• Purple – Superior
• Orange – High-end

What are the PC requirements?

The minimum and recommended PC requirements for The Division are below, straight from Ubisoft. PC gamers will have a wide range of options available to them with the game.

Minimum Requirements

• Supported OS: Windows® 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (64-bit versions only).
• Processor: Intel Core i5-2400 | AMD FX-6100, or better.
• RAM:6GB
• Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 with 2 GB VRAM (current equivalent NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760) | AMD Radeon HD 7770 with 2 GB VRAM, or better.
• Notebook support: Laptop models of these desktop cards may work as long as they are on-par in terms of performance with at least the minimum configuration.
• DirectX: Version 11
• Hard Drive Space: 40 GB available space.
• Optical Drive: DVD-ROM Dual Layer.
• Peripherals Supported: Windows-compatible keyboard, mouse, headset, optional controller.
• Multiplayer: Broadband connection with 256 kbps upstream, or faster.

Recommended Requirements

• Supported OS: Windows® 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (64-bit versions only)
• Processor:Intel Core i7-3770 | AMD FX-8350, or better.
• RAM:8GB
• Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 | AMD Radeon R9 290, or better.
• Notebook support: Laptop models of these desktop cards may work as long as they are on-par in terms of performance with at least the minimum configuration.
• DirectX: Version 11
• Hard Drive Space: 40 GB available space.
• Optical Drive: DVD-ROM Dual Layer.
• Peripherals Supported: Windows-compatible keyboard, mouse, headset, optional controller.
• Multiplayer:Broadband connection with 512 kbps upstream, or faster.

[Image via Ubisoft]