The Division 2 season pass, loot boxes and free episodes revealed

Ubisoft has revealed its plans for The Division 2's first year, season pass and shop. Over the course of the year, there will be several free updates that add new specialisations and story missions that all players get access to, but season pass owners get early access to new episodes as well as extra missions not available with the base game. Check out the Year One trailer above for a glimpse of the upcoming episodes.

If you buy the season pass, you'll get to play the narrative content of year one's three new episodes a week before everyone else, unlock instant access to new specialisations when they release instead of waiting for them to unlock over time, and get access to additional bounties and "classified assignments." The latter will include more backstory, filling players in about what happened in Washington DC before they arrived.

Cosmetics will also be available in the shop. You'll earn caches containing cosmetic items, essentially loot boxes, by playing the game. You can skip all that, however, if you're willing to part with your cash. Individual items can be purchased directly from the shop. They sound innocuous compared to most loot boxes and at least don't require you to spend money on a dice roll. Every item has the same chance of dropping from a cache, as well, regardless of quality. You might find duplicates, but they'll add progress toward your next cache, and special timed event caches will only dole out unique items.

It still sounds a bit convoluted, and figuring out what you get just from buying the game and what advantages come with the season pass is bordering on homework. Give the FAQ a read if you want more details.

The Division 2's open beta kicks off on March 1 and launches on March 15.

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Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.