The Division begins pre-load today; no reviewer play until release

Ubisoft announced plans for the upcoming release of Tom Clancy’s The Division. The core details is basically that preloading will begin at 9 AM today (March 3rd), there will be no “head start” usually given to reviewers to allow them to get reviews up right at the game’s release.

Normally, I would say that not allowing reviewers to play your game until release is a worrying sign. I don’t think that’s the case here, as there’s been plenty of open beta play, and probably hundreds of thousands of hours of gameplay on Twitch and YouTube. The virtual stampede when everything opens up at 12:01 am on March 8th will include EVERYBODY, including usually the first folks in line.

I hope that whoever’s in charge of the servers for release is getting their beauty rest, something tells me that they’re going to be MIGHTY busy come Tuesday Midnight.