Free Content and Promotional Offers for Tom Clancy’s The Division (2016)

The year 2016 marked the release of Tom Clancy’s The Division, an online action role-playing game developed by Massive Entertainment and published by Ubisoft. During and following the game's launch, Ubisoft distributed several promotional offers, including a limited-time free game giveaway, free downloadable content (DLC) gear sets, and in-game currency compensation. These offers targeted both new players and existing Season Pass owners, with specific eligibility requirements based on platform, geographic location, and purchase status.

Free Game Giveaway via uPlay

Ubisoft offered a complimentary copy of Tom Clancy’s The Division for personal computers via the uPlay platform. This promotion was available for a limited window from September 1, 2020, at 09:00 am CET to September 8, 2020, at 10:00 am CET. To claim the game, users were required to navigate to the uPlay store and select the "PC" option. Once the game was registered to a user account, it remained accessible permanently. This offer provided an opportunity for players to acquire the full title at no cost years after its initial 2016 release.

Free Gear Sets: Agent Origins Promotion

In conjunction with the release of a live-action video series titled The Division: Agent Origins, Ubisoft distributed free DLC gear sets. These sets were themed after four distinct character archetypes: Paramedic, Firefighter, Police, and Hunter. The gear sets provided cosmetic changes to the in-game character's appearance and offered additional skills to assist players in combat scenarios within New York City.

To redeem this content, players were required to enter the code "AGENTORIGINS" on a designated Ubisoft website. Upon successful redemption, an email was sent explaining how to retrieve the gear on the chosen platform (Xbox One, PC, or PS4). However, the code could not be activated until the official release of the full game on March 8, 2016; attempts to redeem it prior to this date resulted in an error message.

Geographic and Platform Restrictions

A critical restriction accompanied the Agent Origins offer: the redemption code was valid only for players located in Northern or Southern America, including Canada. Players outside these regions were unable to redeem the code. Additionally, the offer was strictly tied to the release of the full game and required a valid Ubisoft account to manage the redemption process.

Season Pass Owner Benefits

For players who purchased the $40 The Division Season Pass, Ubisoft provided recurring monthly benefits. These benefits included access to all three major expansions released over the course of a year, as well as exclusive gear and day-one customization options.

In May 2016, Season Pass owners received specific free items delivered directly to their accounts across all platforms (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC). The monthly content included two weapon skins—specifically "safari purple" and "burst mountain"—and high-end crafting materials, including Division tech. These items were automatically distributed to eligible accounts, requiring no manual redemption from the user.

In-Game Currency Compensation

Following the game's launch, players experienced various bugs and technical glitches, including issues with disappearing characters and loading screen errors related to backpacks. As compensation for these disruptions, developer Massive Entertainment announced a giveaway of 150 free Phoenix Credits. Phoenix Credits served as a premium in-game currency used to purchase high-end items.

This giveaway was available to all players of The Division, regardless of whether they owned the Season Pass. The distribution was announced during a livestream, with community manager Hamish Bode advising players to check Twitter for specific start and end dates for the currency drop.

Game Overview and Technical Context

Tom Clancy’s The Division is an online-only game set in a near-future New York City following a viral pandemic. Players assume the role of a Strategic Homeland Division agent tasked with restoring order. The game utilizes the Snowdrop engine and features cooperative multiplayer and player-versus-player elements.

According to technical reports from 2016, the game's servers operated with a tick rate of 10Hz, updating game behaviors and locations ten times per second. The servers were capable of hosting instances with up to 1,000 players and thousands of AI characters. The average data transfer rate between players and servers was approximately 50 kilobits per second, a rate theoretically low enough to function on a 56K modem connection. However, technical limitations regarding AI density were attributed to client hardware (consoles and PCs) rather than server capacity.

Conclusion

In 2016, Ubisoft utilized several promotional strategies to support Tom Clancy’s The Division. These included a time-limited free game giveaway on uPlay in 2020, free cosmetic and skill-based gear sets tied to a marketing campaign (with strict geographic restrictions), and monthly loot drops for Season Pass subscribers. Additionally, in-game currency was distributed to all players as an apology for technical issues experienced at launch. These offers highlighted the publisher's approach to player retention and compensation during the game's lifecycle.