Posted Wed Mar 2, 2016 at 09:05 AM PST by Brian Hoss
Expect some server craziness.
Here at High-Def Digest, we've been waiting on word from 'Tom Clancy's The Division.' When can a review begin? When will the embargo end? Well, as it turns out, Ubisoft has gone public with their review plans and their server concerns.
In essence, Ubisoft feels that the launch server demand is something that has been "impossible" to "replicate" even after having 6.4 million players in the beta. Thus, reviews will not start until the servers go live on March 8th at 00:01AM Australian Eastern Time.
From Ubisoft, 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 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.
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 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.
This is an interesting strategy. It both recognizes that pre-release is not specifically a fair way to review the game, but it also suggests that post-release will be chaotic. According to Ubisoft's plans, players will not have a reviews to check until after the launch.
Critically, this means that the game's depth, which was tricky to gauge in the beta, won't be reviewed until after the full launch. Likewise, any differences in the game versions, from PC to PS4 and Xbox One, will also need to wait until launch.
You can find the latest info on 'Tom Clancy's The Division' linked from our Video Game Release Schedule.
Source: Ubiblog
The latest news on all things 4K Ultra HD, blu-ray and Gear.