With Crucible not living up to expectations, Amazon's lone gaming hope is on its upcoming MMO, New World. Set in the 17th century, players will be exploring a land called Aeternum with an emphasis placed on settlement building and surviving through scavenging, crafting, completing quests, and invading other player's settlements. With so much pressure now on the title, Amazon confirmed some disappointing news to fans waiting for the game.
In a brand new developer diary from Rich Lawrence, Studio Director working on New World, an update was given on how the game has been progressing through its alpha testing. With an August 25 launch quickly approaching, it was decided that the game just isn't ready. Surprisingly, the delay isn't a short one as the game is now scheduled to launch in the Spring 2021 time frame.
The decision largely came as a result of the feedback received from the community rather than the global pandemic which caused the first delay. Lawrence admitted that the Alpha audience enjoyed the game and were hoping to see more of it, though the middle and endgame activities were a bit lacking. With a list of features already in place, the end goal of this delay is to ensure that players are fully immersed in the experience with lasting gameplay and quality. As such, the studio needs additional time in order to meet the standards the studio expects.
Along with the launch delay, the final beta test as also been moved along with it. Ultimately, the studio is looking to make sure the final game as more features and content before the public goes hands on with it. Community members who were able to test the game in its alpha state, beta sign-ups, and those who pre-ordered will also be invited to play the game in its current state on its original August 25 release date for a limited time.
While specific reasons for the delay weren't provided, at least a part of it could likely be attributed to Amazon's other recent release, Crucible. The PvP third person shooter launched on Steam earlier this summer to a disappointing reception from players. Low metacritic scores and a rapidly declining player base pushed Amazon to basically un-release the game by putting it back into a closed beta state, something that hasn't really been seen before with a fully released game. With amazing looking to fix the game and improve its future, clearly the company didn't want to take a chance that the same fate awaited New World.
New World releases Spring 2021 for PC.
Source: New World