Reddit sleuths have dug up information indicating that Tom Clancy's The Division will undergo an alpha test that will be accessible to at least some members of the public.
As reported by VG247, intrepid Redditors discovered a section of The Division website relating to an alpha test. No such thing has been announced, and the page is currently blank; dicking around with the site's code, however, adds an "alpha" link to the menu bar at the top.
It's not concrete evidence of anything, but online games like The Division, a massively-multiplayer third-person shooter set in a post-pandemic world, are notoriously cantankerous at launch, and so extensive testing, including an alpha, would make sense. Of course, even if it does take place, there's no guarantee that it will be on the PC, or that you—or any of us—will be admitted behind the rope.
Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's The Division sets players off as members of the Strategic Homeland Division, who are empowered to do whatever it takes to halt the outbreak of a devastating pandemic that threatens the end of civilization as we know it. "Whatever it takes" will presumably involve shooting a lot of people, but even if it doesn't get much beyond the gunplay, the promise of drop-in/drop-out PvP and co-op action in a persistent open world is awfully appealing. It was originally slated to come out in time for the 2014 holiday season but in May of last year was pushed back to 2015. A solid release date hasn't been announced.
We've reached out to Ubisoft for clarification, and will update if and when we receive a reply. In the meantime, you can find out more about what's in store with our E3 2014 preview.
