After a long wait, the release of New World is finally approaching. According to Amazon’s Christoph Hartmann, the new MMORPG is expected to prove that it has learned from past mistakes in the gaming industry.
Here’s the current status of New World: On Tuesday, September 28, New World is set to be released. Even the preload for the game has already been announced. It looks like players will indeed be able to dive into the world of Aeternum next week.
This ends a long period of waiting, which was marked by numerous delays. Originally, New World was supposed to launch in spring 2020, but the release was repeatedly pushed back.
The last delay from last August was actually well received by many players. The reason: the hope of achieving a better gaming experience than with a rushed release.
And as Amazon Games Vice President Christoph Hartmann told GamesIndustry.biz, that was precisely the point. This also applies to Amazon’s previous gaming projects.
New World is expected to show that Amazon can develop games
Here’s how it looked in the past: Amazon had two other projects in development alongside New World, but neither was ever fully realized. Both are no longer relevant:
- The first project “Breakaway” was initially viewed as a mix of Overwatch and Rocket League, but was fundamentally reworked after testing phases in 2017. In 2018, it suddenly stopped, and development was halted.
- The hero shooter Crucible was canceled in 2020. Prior to that, the game had been reverted to beta after it failed to gain traction on Steam. However, it never emerged from beta.
“You should only release a game when you are ready. For me, it’s probably something we should have known better,” Hartmann reflects. “We launched Crucible at a time when PUBG and Fortnite were super, super popular. It was not the right decision to enter a market segment with such big players that everyone is chasing after.”
Among other things, it also took longer to bring New World to market due to these experiences: “That’s why we had too many delays with New World. We really wanted to ensure we do it right this time.”
In this regard, the team has the advantage of not being as tied to quarters or fiscal years as other developers. “Yes, we need to build a business, but we know that sometimes a month or two makes all the difference for a game,” Hartmann says. “That’s really what matters, because we are making multiplayer service games that need to stay on the market for ten years. So it doesn’t make sense to rush anything.”
With New World, the intention is to “show what Amazon Games is capable of,” Hartmann states. They are now pursuing a philosophy that is aimed at longevity. They do not want to give up or rush projects but to give developers time.
Internally, New World should also prove that the gaming division can deliver: “I believe New World comes out of nowhere for many people because they wrote it off since they thought it would never happen,” Hartmann says. “I see a great enthusiasm for games within the company, a great support – and this is increasing rather than people feeling fed up with it.”
It sounds like New World is set to become the title by which Amazon Games will be measured – rather than projects like Crucible or Breakaway: “Once we land a big hit, which I believe New World will be, we will gain even more support because we will have proven ourselves,” Hartmann concludes.
Whether this plan will pay off will ultimately be revealed when New World celebrates its release next week. For all information about the game, you can find it at MeinMMO in the overview: Everything about the new MMO New World – Release, Beta, Pre-order, Gameplay.
