After being delayed until 2016, fresh information from one online retailer suggests that the closed beta for Ubisoft MMO The Division will begin January 29.

Ubisoft's upcoming MMO The Division has been at the top of gamer wishlists for quite some time. The third person shooter initially impressed during the publisher's E3 2013 press conference and thanks to gameplay trailers released since then, fans have been at the edge of their seats watching groups of players attempt to protect and seize control of a New York City in the middle of a crisis.

Unfortunately, though, The Division's release has been delayed several times amidst rumors of a rocky development, and even the beta (which was initially dated for December 2015) was postponed until the new year. Those hoping to restore order during the game's beta may not have to wait much longer, however, as it looks likely to begin on January 29.

Details about a possible Division beta date come from a recent Reddit thread, where one user was provided a solid date for when The Division beta was scheduled to begin. Asking online retailer Funstock Digital when it planned to "acquire beta keys," Funstock replied that "the closed beta begins on the 29th of January" and that "we will be receiving and distributing the keys in the next 2 weeks before the beta starts." In further messages, the Funstock representative says that  info is directly from the key supplier, but doesn't divulge who the supplier is, as they have more than one key supplier (though this is "usually" the "individual game manufacturer").

However, while Funstock didn't offer much info to back up that January 29 date, there are other reasons to believe that The Division's closed beta test is just a few weeks away. For example, those who purchase above the average for the Tom Clancy Humble Bundle will bag a collection of games from the Tom Clancy back catalogue along with access to The Division beta, seeming to suggest that Ubisoft is trying to get as many people as possible in on the beta fun ahead of time. Moreover, the The Division alpha test on Xbox One (which took place in December) was said to be quite solid by players and so it would make sense that Ubi would want to move onto the next stage soon.

Fans especially will be hoping that this is correct, not just because they're eager to get their hands on the game, but because they want Ubisoft to have as much of a head start as possible when it comes to fixing The Division's problems. Although Ubisoft's recent release Rainbow Six Siege had an open beta, the game suffered from major technical issues at launch and so with The Division not having any offline support, fans hope that the beta will mean that bugs or server issues are patched up long before the game's March release.

The Division will be released March 8, 2016 on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

Source: Reddit