Tom Clancy's The Division PS4 PlayStation 4 Beta

Ubisoft, you sly dogs. At first we thought that all of the snow in New York City was a freak natural occurrence, but now we've realised that it was just viral marketing for Tom Clancy's The Division, which is set to receive its inaugural public beta this week. Of course, you may be wondering how to get into the server stress test, and what time it starts? Well, wonder no more, wannabe military man – we have all of the answers below.

How do I get into The Division's beta?

As with any good beta, The Division's pre-release taster is being used as a means promote the forthcoming foray first and foremost, meaning that you'll need a pre-order to get in on the action. Fortunately, you can get access to the beta by ordering it on either Amazon or the PlayStation Store, and then cancelling the moment your code comes through. Yes, it's not in-keeping with the spirit of the promotion, but if publishers will insist on masquerading tests as marketing tools, then we don't reckon that there's owt wrong with cheating the system.

When does The Division's beta begin on PS4?

Microsoft's ponied up for, er, 24 extra hours access to The Division beta on the Xbox One, so the test doesn't start until 29th January on the PS4. The expected start time is 12:00PM GMT, so 07:00AM EST/04:00AM PST. It'll run through until an undetermined time on Sunday, 31st January – though there's always a good chance of extensions with these kinds of things. We'll obviously keep you updated if the dates and times change.

How big is The Division beta's file size?

We heard you like big packages, and The Division delivers in spades: the client is a humongous 28GB or so. You'll need about 50GB of free space on your system to get it downloading then, which is a substantial slice of room. The good news is that you'll get a meaty portion of content to play through, including the Chelsea Pier area, as well as the competitive Dark Zone sector.

Can I start downloading The Division's beta now?

Yes – yes, you can. If your Internet's slower than a tortoise after completing a local fun run, then you can start the download right now. As long as you've got a code – as outlined above – then you can enter it and start pulling down the file immediately. That way you should be ready to go once the beta opens up to everyone. Huzzah!

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