Ubisoft likely has another hit open-world game on its hands.
The publisher revealed today that its open beta for The Division, an online multiplayer shooter with role-playing game mechanics that takes place in a ruined New York City, attracted 6.4 million players. Ubisoft noted that this is the largest beta ever for a new game brand on a current generation system. The beta took place on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Ubisoft added that players spent an average of 5 hours each with the game.
This is a good sign for The Division’s sales prospects. While a beta is free to play, it can help garner interest. Technically, betas are supposed to help developers find bugs and other problems before a game’s actual release, but publishers often use them as glorified demos these days. They give players a free taste of the game, hopefully encouraging them to buy the full product.
That’s especially true when a beta takes place so closely to the game’s actual release date, which gives the company a limited amount of time to really change or fix much. The Division comes out on March 8 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.