The Division 2 isn’t even out yet and it has already broken records. During a call with investors where he announced the Q1 2019 fiscal results, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot talked about the reception to The Division 2 following its showing at E3 2018. Guillemot said that The Division 2 has hit a new record for the company by being the fastest registered beta in Ubisoft history. According to Guillemot, the numbers are four times higher than the previous record holder, which was coincidentally the first Division game.
Online betas are a good way of gauging interest for a game. Betas can be very useful for developers as players can bugs that can be discovered and fixed. Servers can undertake a stress test during a beta which can provide is invaluable information for developers. Previous Ubisoft titles such as The Division, The Crew 2 and For Honor had online betas.
The Division 2 was announced back in March 2018 and then at E3 2018, Ubisoft blew the lid on the game and showed off a tonne of gameplay for it. As well as showing off footage of the game, Ubisoft talked about all the changes and new things that will be making there way into the game. One change is that the upcoming sequel will let you unlock mods instead of you waiting for loot drops. The first game had you wait for loot drops to unlock mods, a feature that some players did not like. The sequel solves this problem and reduces the number of mods, prompting players to try out different play styles.
At Ubisoft’s E3 2018 showcase, the developer showed off a full post-launch content plan for the game. The Division 2 will be getting a full year’s worth of DLC that will be completely free. Every three months, the game will receive new areas, story missions and game modes.
The Division 2 will release on March 15, 2019, for PS4, Xbox One and PC.