The Division 2 closed beta set for February 7, new story trailer released

The Division 2 beta will be held from Thursday, February 7 through Sunday, February 10, Ubisoft announced today, which will give players their first proper taste of the upcoming shared-world shooter. Players who've pre-ordered the full game, which is scheduled to release on March 15, will be guaranteed a slot in the closed beta. Everyone else can register online and hope they receive one of the limited beta keys. 

The beta will be available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. However, as previously reported, The Division 2 is skipping Steam in favor of the newly opened Epic Games Store, so naturally the beta won't be available on Steam either. Ubisoft didn't specify how much of the full game will be accessible, but based on the closed beta for the original game, it should be a decent chunk. That being said, The Division 2 focuses more on endgame activities and progression, so at best we'll be able to dip our toes in the world. 

Ubisoft announced the closed beta alongside a new story trailer (which you can watch above). The Division 2 takes players far from New York to Washington D.C., seven months after the events of the first game. It also gives the titular Division agents a clearer purpose: where the original game sometimes felt like playing an aimless vigilante simulator, The Division 2 is explicitly about fighting and suppressing outlaw groups that popped up after the pandemic. That's motivation I can get behind. 

Watch the Xbox E3 2018 gameplay reveal for The Division 2 here.