For quite some time, players have been eagerly anticipating the full release of Amazon Games' New World, a brand-new MMORPG that mixes historical frontier-like adventuring with fantasy. Amazon Games' true first foray into the MMO space, New World, promises plenty of content for players to enjoy with a focus on PvP gameplay. After players find themselves shipwrecked on the haunted island of Aeternum, their adventures will bring them in contact with ancient enemies as they unravel the island's mysteries.
Originally announced for a 2020 release, New World has unfortunately been delayed multiple times. With New World now delayed until September 2021, players again have to wait longer to get into the game. On the bright side, development has progressed smoothly enough that many players were able to get a first taste of what the game has to offer during its closed beta test a few weeks ago. Plenty of players were fully engaged with Amazon's MMO, so much so that players spent more than 25 millions hours playing New World during the closed beta. Feedback from the closed beta will drive additional changes to the game ahead of its launch, and there are a few things players can expect out of New World's official launch.
Bug Fixes and Performance Enhancements
Right off the bat, it's clear that the development team will spend some time improving the performance of New World based on observations from the closed beta. Several performance enhancements will clearly need to be made, as the beta showcased some unfortunate events. New World caused hardware failure in some Nvidia GPUs due to overheating, a major flaw in a game from what many believe to be a AAA game studio. Players shouldn't have to worry that choosing high-quality settings in games might destroy their high-end computer components, and the full launch of New World should fix any issues in this regard.
Additionally, Amazon Games will have spent some time fixing the various bugs within the game that threaten stability as well. For example, during the closed beta, some players discovered that the simple act of fishing could crash New World. Ultimately, this occurred when a player's fishing pole bobber did not de-spawn after an attempt at fishing. After an extended session of fishing, the sheer amount of bobbers left in the water could cause the game to crash. There are likely even more bugs that were reported to the developers over the course of the beta that players won't have to worry about at launch.
Another improvement on New World at launch will be with server stability. The most egregious example of strained servers seen was during the PvP "War" mode, which pits two groups of 50 players against each other. Massive PvP experiences like this were billed as one of the aspects of New World that set it apart from other MMOs, but at times these Wars would devolve into stuttering gameplay with lagged out or freezing enemy players. It is quite possible that servers were limited during the beta, and Amazon Games plans to add even more servers with the full launch of the game now that it is confident with player interest in the MMO.
Improved PvE and More Enemy Variety
From many players that experienced the closed beta, a common criticism against the game was regarding its variety of enemies. There were multiple enemies that seemed to just be slight reskins of others with stronger levels attached to them. Well-known MMO streamers such as Asmongold have been quick to point out New World's problems, and Asmongold is one of the players that have stated their disappointment with the current variety of enemies. It is quite possible that the closed beta of New World only wanted to showcase a certain set of enemies in an effort to leave more surprises for the game's launch.
Aside from Asmongold, other popular streamers like Summit1G also criticized New World for its PvE. Summit1G said he couldn't tell a difference between the PvE experience at low levels and high levels after watching. Since this opinion was mirrored by several in the New World community, Amazon Games may end up focusing on tweaking the regular PvE gameplay to make it more worthwhile. While PvP is definitely the focus for New World, players that enjoy PvE can't be left by the wayside. By the official launch of the game, those game systems will likely receive a few improvements.
Overall, players should expect a smoother gameplay experience with the full launch of New World in September. Various bugs that became known during the beta will be fixed, and the developers will undoubtedly improve various aspects of the game. The full map of Aeternum should also be explorable, and there is likely plenty of content that Amazon Games has kept secret for the official launch.
The release will also fully open the in-game store, with various in-game items such as cosmetics available to purchase. New World may still contain items such as paid XP boosters at some point, to the dismay of some fans. In any case, there are numerous players already enamored by New World just from its beta. The full launch in September should prove it to be the next big MMO hit.
New World is expected to launch on September 28, 2021 for PC.