14 DAY TRIAL // The beta period for The Division is now running but the focus for the development team at the Massive Ubisoft studio is already on the long-term future of the shooter and MMO mix, which will include the deployment of at least three downloadable content packs, that are covered by a newly unveiled Season Pass.
The official announcement explains that the title is designed to create a new universe that will constantly be expanded, with the community able to offer suggestions on how the core mechanics can be improved.
Ubisoft says that regular updates for The Division will include both fixes and entirely new modes that will challenge groups to perform complex operations, cooperating to win a variety of unique rewards.
The three planned DLC packs are designed to expand the way the player interacts with the game, with the first one called Underground because it will open a new area for gamers to explore as the metro system is opened up for four-player cooperative action.
Survival is the second paid content drop for The Division, and its focus will be on a survival mode although the developers are not saying whether an entirely new area of New York City is being introduced.
Last Stand is the final piece of major DLC for the title, but so far Ubisoft has not been willing to offer any details about it.
The Season Pass covering The Division will deliver the new content as well as access to an exclusive sawed-off shotgun, exclusive outfits and weapons skins and extra monthly content and special events that are not yet detailed.
Gamers will be able to pick it up when the game launches on March 8, with it also being included in the Gold Edition and Sleeper Agent Edition of the video game.
The Division mixes PvE and PvP action
Neither of the DLC packs has official launch dates, and the priority will be to make sure that all the core mechanics work well after the experience is first introduced.
The Division takes gamers to New York in the wake of a plague that spreads during Black Friday, ironically via paper money, and then manages to bring down the entire government, which leads to the activation of a special group of deep-cover agents who are supposed to restore order.
Gamers will mainly engage in Player versus Environment action, either alone or with a group of friends, trying to secure as much of the city as possible, but Player versus Player moments are integrated into the Dark Zone.
Here the difficulty level increases, and gamers will have to decide how to deal with unique items that they can only secure via extraction, a process allowing others to try and secure the reward for themselves.
Ubisoft has said that it has no plans to introduce microtransactions for The Division.
The game will be offered on the PC, the PlayStation 4 from Sony and the Xbox One from Microsoft and a beta phase is currently running, showing gamers the main mechanics and testing the core infrastructure used to support it.