The Division will be free this weekend: three things to know
The Division burned bright and fast, rising to mass popularity and then quickly, almost suddenly, falling back down to a more sustainable baseline. If you had intended to pick up the game, only to wait for the price to come down a bit and then forgot about it altogether, now is your chance to see whether you truly want the game. The Division will be free to play in regions around the world this upcoming weekend, giving anyone — including those who don't own the game — a chance to play.
When you can play
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Though the game will be free to play this weekend, it won't start and stop being free for everyone at exactly the same time. If you're located in the Americas, you'll be able to start playing for free on May 4 at midnight if you're on a PS4 or Xbox One and at 10AM if you're on PC. All those times are for the Pacific timezone, so adjust accordingly.
The free weekend for the Americas will end on May 7 a minute before midnight for the consoles and at 1PM for PC.
Meanwhile, those in Asia and Oceania, including Japan, as well as the middle east and Europe, will be able to start at 7AM UTC (consoles) and 5PM UTC (PC); the weekend will stop on May 8 at 7AM UTC for consoles and on May 7 at 8PM for PC.
How you can play
You've probably already discerned this part from the above section, but take heed in case you skimmed: The Division is available for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, as well PCs running Windows. You can download a digital version of the game from the consoles' respective game stores, the digital version for PCs from Steam, or via a physical disc.
What to do when the weekend, well, ends
The weekend will be over before you know it, and that leaves you with a big question: do you proceed to purchase the game, getting to enjoy it every day whenever you want, or do you pass on it and play something else? If you're going to purchase it, know this: the game's used price now sits at about $16 for a physical disc, though this varies depending on the seller, of course. Unless you have a good reason for wanting a new unit, be sure to check out your local used game store for a steeply discounted fee.
If, alternatively, you choose to purchase the digital and therefore downloadable version, the price is still a higher $50, give or take depending on store and promotions.
Of course, if you choose not to purchase the game and to part ways, be sure to delete the game from your console to free up precious hard drive space...though if you're using a PS4, this just became slightly less necessary.