Bad news to airsoft players who have been looking forward to be part of  upcoming Tom Clancy’s The Division Beta. Ubisoft has decided to push the date of the Beta into early 2016 with not much explanation. Even with this change in schedules, they still are maintaining their release schedule on the 8th of March 2016.

I am not counting yet on that announced released date. The Division was announced in 2013 with an initial expectation that they will be releasing the title in 2014. Some quarters found it to be too optimistic as the game is ambitious with its characters requiring complex animations. But then, by May 2014, they pushed back the date, targeting autumn of 2015. Now, it is going to be March 2016 and so far my expectations now are low.

But if the push back in release dates will mean a video game title that has been put well together on its release date, avoiding the Battlefield 4 debacle, then I am all for it.

The only consolation is that Xbox players will have access to the Alpha:

We know many of you have been patiently awaiting the arrival of The Division Beta, and we appreciate your patience as the team remains committed to delivering an open-world action-RPG experience that exceeds your expectations on March 8, 2016. With that in mind, we’re changing some of our beta plans to reach that goal, and your participation plays an important part.

The Division Beta planned for December will now take place in early 2016. However, we’re excited to announce that players who preordered the Xbox One version will have priority access to an exclusive closed Xbox One alpha testing phase, taking place from December 9 to 12. Those of you on the waitlist for the Xbox One alpha may be granted access on an as needed basis. In addition, players who pre-ordered the Xbox One, PS4, or PC version of The Division will have access to a closed beta on their respective platforms in early 2016.

This exclusive Xbox One alpha testing phase in December will be the first time the public gets to play a version of The Division that includes more than the Dark Zone PvP enabled areas. This means the moment you and other players sign into the game, you’ll be giving us valuable insight into how our infrastructure performs under pressure that we can’t replicate internally or at a tradeshow. This process allows us to monitor and gather additional feedback on other aspects of The Division, as well. However, due to the early stage of this alpha, we ask that all participants do not share images, video, or descriptions of the game’s content outside of the official Division alpha forum. Players will be prompted to accept a non-disclosure agreement before playing the alpha.

We know that you probably have more questions, so we’ve put together a FAQ on The Division Alpha that hopefully answers them. If you still have any questions or concerns, feel free to let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

We thank you again for your patience and value your enthusiasm for The Division. The team is working hard to deliver a great experience and can’t wait to show you more in the coming months.

Well, lucky are the Xbox players, if they are ok with signing an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement). Or else, they will have to wait for the actual release date.

Tom Clancy's The Division is an upcoming open world third-person shooter role-playing video game with survival elements. Upon its release, versions will be available for the XBox, Playstation, and Windows PC.