The mood around the new MMO New World has changed significantly in recent weeks. While it was previously a niche game that received little attention, it is now one of the big MMO hopes for 2020. What is the reason for this?
Here’s how it was so far: New World first appeared in the fall of 2016: At that time, it was one of three new online games with which Amazon wanted to enter gaming.
From the very beginning, Amazon kept a secret about what they were planning with New World:
- There was no flow of information for the first 2 years
- Only closed alphas took place under strict NDA – until then, hardly anyone was allowed to play New World and talk about it outside of press events
- Videos and gameplay of New World were rarely seen – often, they were leaks
- Most of the time, there were only images and screenshots shared via Twitter
- At the Gamescom 2018, Amazon was present and introduced New World, but afterwards, there was once again silence
- In June 2019, the alpha was concluded and barely any news came from the game
From the little that was learned from 2016 to 2019 and what was heard from the alphas, it seemed that New World would be a “survival MMO” focused on PvP, set in an alternative version of North America in the 17th century. It was to take place in a world where myths and legends corresponded to reality: The concept was envisioned as a colonial setting with horror elements.
A major unique feature highlighted was the size of the world and the battles: Through Amazon’s server technology, it should be possible to create a huge, expanding world where thousands of players could meet.
There was hardly any talk of quests or PvE elements: New World was supposed to be a sandbox game where all movement comes from players.
New World hits the reset button
This is now different: In September 2019, it became clear that Amazon plans to rework the MMO. At that time, they deleted all videos from YouTube. The oldest video there is now from December 12, 2019 – so Amazon has essentially “reset” the PR campaign and completely removed everything that came before December 12.
In December 2019, Amazon then presented the new New World:
- New World would not take place in North America, but on an island like Atlantis
- The PvE elements are now being emphasized more strongly – instead of forced PvP, New World relies on an open world
- The focus of the presentation is now on a fascinating mystery backdrop
- The “scaling” has taken a backseat – now there is talk of “more than 1000 people on the server” and 50vs50 PvP battles, as well as 50vsX monster fights
This is the result: Interest in New World has significantly increased due to this realignment. Those who were previously put off by the PvP focus are now taking a keen interest in New World.
Some of the previous players of New World who were in the alpha seem at the moment to be the only ones mourning the PvP focus and wondering about this turn of events.
5 reasons why New World is now such a hope
Why is New World now such an MMO hope? A lot is coming together with New World at the moment:
- Dried-up market – MMO fans have been hungry for new games with a PvE focus in the West for years (and additionally, it is said that New World will have an interesting housing system)
- New scenario and strong graphics: What has been seen of New World in trailers so far appeals to many players. The graphics look good. With the new setting, we see new motifs apart from fantasy backdrops that MMO fans recognize
- High expectations for Amazon – People trust the giant Amazon to create something relevant and new in the MMO genre with a high budget
- Upcoming release – although little is known about the game, there is a clear release date in May 2020
- Little concrete information – ironically, this is speaking in favor of New World: So far, there has been almost nothing but positive news about the game, as Amazon has only presented fantastic-sounding broad strokes, but not the many smaller details that players often get hung up on and then find faults
What will be exciting now: At the moment, New World is a blank slate onto which players can project their wishes to imagine their “perfect MMO”. In the coming weeks and months, New World will provide players with many details to make the image of the game more concrete, until players can finally get a first taste in April during a closed beta.
It will be exciting to see whether the “increased information” in the coming weeks still leaves enough room for players to believe in New World as an MMO hope.
