The Division is free to play this weekend

If you're looking for a way to pass the time this weekend, The Division, Ubisoft's ultimate game of destroying the village in order to save it, is free to play until Monday

The free weekend actually started yesterday, so you can dive in and make with the shooting anytime you like until 10 am PT/1 pm ET on September 17. You'll need Uplay to take part, which you can download here. Any progress you make during the free period will carry over to the full game should you opt to pick it up. The freebie covers the full base game, but not any DLC content—although I can't imagine that will be an issue if you're just getting into it. 

If you're suitably impressed by the experience, this is also not a bad time to spring for the full game, as long as you don't mind not having it on Steam: It's still full price there, but the standard and gold editions, and all the DLC, are on sale for up to 70 percent off on the Ubisoft Store

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.