Details regarding The Division's Seasons Pass, which includes three now-named expansions, Season Pass monthly rewards, and free updates are now available.

With The Division's beta kicking off today on Xbox One, then on PlayStation 4 and PC tomorrow, Ubisoft is making the most out of the attention they're pulling. The publisher has just released the first details regarding their Season Pass expansions, DLC bonuses, and free update plans. While it's nothing so extensive as a schedule, considering The Division is a good bit more than a month away from launch these details are surprisingly extensive.

Starting with the Season Pass, which is currently only available in the $99 "Gold Edition" or $159 "Collectors Edition" of The Division, Ubisoft has now provided the first details on its three expansions, providing their official titles and a short description:

  • Underground - "The first expansion, called “Underground”, lets a squad of four players explore new territory in a post-epidemic New York City underworld."
  • Survival - "In the second expansion, called “Survival”, players will have to try to survive in a hostile environment that will challenge even the most hardcore Division players."
  • Last Stand -  "The third and final expansion is (perhaps fittingly) titled “Last Stand”."

Ubisoft went on to talk about two different types of downloadable content for The Division beyond the Season Pass expansions. The first are other boons players get by purchasing the Season Pass early, including a DLC pack of outfits and weapon skins on launch day, as well as monthly perks described as "exclusive content drops and events." Finally, The Division will have a stable of free updates available for all players, though these updates will specifically be "built around new game modes."

While a definitive schedule for releasing content was not a part of Ubisoft's post-launch plans, they did imply that the bulk of this content will be put out in 2016 or the first year after launch. Hopefully Ubisoft will clarify this time frame, if it's true, because it would definitely resound within their community. Three meaningful expansions, monthly events, and free game modes promised in the first year? That's a lot to be excited about for an always-online shooter like The Division.

Give Ubisoft the credit they're due, as they are capitalizing while The Division's major competitor, Destiny is in a down period. Bungie is facing widespread criticism for poor communication with their community, sparse content updates despite previous promises, and no discernible road map for future content updates. And right as the controversy comes to a head, with the replacement of Bungie's CEO, Ubisoft starts its beta and reveals a good amount regarding their post-launch content plans. Well played, Ubisoft. Well played.

Yet every game player familiar with Bungie and Destiny's issues should remain just as weary regarding Ubisoft, if not more so. While Ubisoft is certainly reliable with regards to content announcements, the quality of their post-launch content is another matter entirely. Ubisoft's history of uncomfortable DLC pracices including pre-order bonuses and Season Pass content is one of the reasons why there's a growing base of game players who refuse to pre-order or purchase DLC at all. As ever, the best practice for all game players is to know what you're buying before spending your money. That Ubisoft is deft at capitalizing on hype should only make us that much more wary.

Tom Clancy's The Division releases March 8, 2016 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The beta for pre-orderers which began today on Xbox One, and tomorrow for PC and PlayStation 4, ends on January 31.