Ubisoft Have Confirmed Preload Schedule For The Division

With its worldwide launch now just six days away, Ubisoft have confirmed the preload schedule for players who have purchased Tom Clancy’s The Division digitally. Preloading is, of course, a valuable way of ensuring you’ll be ready to dive straight into the Dark Zone once the game finally goes live on release day.

According to the official Ubiblog, players who have purchased digital copies can begin preloading today for Xbox One; Thursday, March 3 at 6PM CET / 9AM PT for PC (Steam/Uplay); and March 6 at 00:01AM local time on PlayStation 4 – except for Japan where it will be available on March 8 at 00:01AM. In the US, digital copies of The Division for Xbox One, PS4, and PC will be active at 12:01AM EST on March 8.

As well as confirming this preload schedule, the blog goes on to shed some more light on what to expect from reviews of The Division. The planned server population isn’t going to take place until the official release, so reviews aren’t likely to appear in advance as is normally the case.

Explaining this decision, Ubisoft stated:

Since it’s impossible for us to populate the servers in a way that would adequately replicate playing The Division on launch day, reviewers will start playing the game along with everyone else when it’s released on March 8 – after the servers go live officially and globally at 00:01AM Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT). We anticipate there may be some impressions posted online within the first few days of launch that were based on experiences with The Division Beta, and we look forward to seeing streams, videos, and opinions that provide accounts of final, in-game conditions.

While the more cynical commentators may see this as being fuelled by a desire to avoid potentially unsavoury reviews – like with Watch Dogs, let’s say – spoiling potential sales, it’s easy to see this from Ubisoft’s point of view. For a game that relies so heavily on inter-player action, why wouldn’t they want The Division reviewed in all its glory?

Tom Clancy’s The Division is now just days away, and will launch for PS4 Xbox One and PC on March 8.