‘The Division’ Open Beta: What You Need To Know — Pre-Load, Launch Times, And More

After a successful closed beta test, the Division open beta is ready to deploy to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC this weekend. Those that have questions about when the open beta for the Tom Clancy shooter starts, ends, and what it contains should read on.

When does The Division open beta start and end?

Xbox One owners have 24-hour early access to The Division beta. It will go live Thursday, February 18, at 4 a.m. ET / 1 a.m. PT. PlayStation 4 and PC owners can join in Friday starting at 4 a.m. ET / 1 a.m. PT.

The beta is currently scheduled to end Monday, February 22, at 7 a.m. ET / 4 a.m. PT. The closed beta was extended by a day, so there’s hope for extra playing time.

How can you get in the open beta?

As the name suggest, The Division open beta is open to all PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC gamers.

Can I preload the open beta?

Yes. In fact, it is available to download right now from the Xbox Store, PlayStation Store, and Uplay. The download size for The Division open beta is around 24 GB, so you’ll need to make sure you have the appropriate amount of space available on your console or PC.

You do not need to download the open beta if you participated in the closed beta a few weeks back and haven’t deleted the files. An update to the existing beta files will be delivered instead.

Beta players will have the ability to create and customize their own character and access to the first two story missions 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 two missions available.

The first mission sends players into a Madison Square Garden turned into a field hospital. A gang has overrun the facility and is holding the doctor needed to unlock the Medical Wing of the Base of Operations.

The new second mission will pit players against a new faction called The Cleaners while trying to rescue a missing engineer needed for the Tech Wing of the Base. The Cleaners and other enemy factions in the game were covered in a video released by Ubisoft.

You will not gain access to the base until a group of enemies are cleared in the opening of the game. Afterwards, you’ll be able to unlock the different wings of the base and choose missions that will provide an 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.

Those that play the Division open beta will also receive an in-game reward. This will be unlocked when the game is launched for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC 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.

The update notes for The Division open beta indicate Ubisoft Massive is going to up the number of NPC enemies in the PVP zone and give them a buff. Numerous other changes were made based on the closed beta, which you can view in detail here.

How does loot work?

There are five different quality levels of loot.

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

Loot recovered in the Dark Zone has to be extracted first. Players can call in an extraction or use another player’s extraction. Once extracted, the loot can be picked up at the Base of Operations or at one of the Safe Houses inside the Dark Zone.

Just be aware that while the inside of a Safe House is not a PVP area, the outside is. Squads of Rogue Agents in waiting could be found camping outside Safe Houses, waiting for a lone player or smaller group attempting to retrieve or leave with their new loot during the closed beta.

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]