In New World the announced large ban wave has apparently been carried out. However, many players are reporting in the forum and on reddit that they claim to have been affected unjustly. We reveal what happened and where you can file a complaint.
What is the story behind the bans? Yesterday, Amazon announced that thousands of accounts would be banned in New World. The focus should primarily be on botters and gold sellers.
However, it seems that some innocent players have also been affected, losing access to the MMO.
This includes players who purchased their key directly from Amazon or Steam, as well as key holders from so-called “third-party vendors”. These are external shops that have nothing to do with Amazon or Steam.
Amazon has also explicitly warned against purchasing from such shops.
100 Keys from Fextralife Banned
What do the innocent players say? On Steam, there is a thread where dozens of players report that they have lost access to New World. Officially, it is said that the key has been removed and a refund initiated (via Steam). However, the users did not request a refund.
In over 500 comments, they conclude that probably all 100 keys that the Fextralife website bought from Amazon and then raffled off to their readers have been banned. Why this happened exactly is currently unclear.
But buyers who independently ordered a key from Amazon, Steam, or a third-party vendor are also reported to have been banned. A pattern cannot be recognized at this time.
Are the bans really unjust? This cannot be said without further insights. After all, botters and cheaters often claim they were banned unjustly.
However, the Steam user vishuspuss has published a conversation with a customer service representative from Amazon on this topic. It says:
Yes, this is a known issue. Many customers worldwide are experiencing this error. I sincerely apologize for this situation.
This issue has been forwarded to our responsible team, and they are working to resolve it. I would ask you to give us 12-24 hours.
Via Steam
Even before the ban wave, there was a warning in the official forum that false bans could occur.
What can I do if I was banned unjustly? First, you should wait the suggested 12 to 24 hours, as an automated solution may already occur.
Otherwise, the community manager Tosch has recommended contacting Amazon Games customer service directly (via Amazon). There you can select the option “Appeal Against a Ban” in the “In-Game Issues” category.
In addition to the bans from the ban wave, there are still many players complaining about 24-hour bans due to false reports. Here there is a different error message, so these bans can be viewed separately:
A Direct Purchase from Steam or Amazon Protects Your Account
What can I do to avoid being banned? Basically, you should stay away from bots, hacks, and any interference with the game client. These manipulations are always a reason to be banned.
However, Amazon also emphasizes that they will ban keys that were not purchased from the authorized retailers Amazon or Steam. It says in the forum:
As a reminder: Please only purchase New World from one of our two authorized dealers (Amazon and Steam). This is the only way to ensure that your key is genuine and functions correctly. Beware of all other websites that claim to be selling New World keys. We do not support keys sold by third parties, as they are often obtained through fraud.
If you purchased your key from such a third-party vendor and were subsequently banned, there is no guarantee that customer service will let you back into the game.
