Amazon is a name that many people already associate with video games, but it’s usually in the form of delivery of hot new releases on door steps, not for actually creating games. That’s where New World hopes to change things. As Amazon Game’s first real breakout experiment, New World is an upcoming buy-to-play (that means no subscription fee once you buy it) open world massively multiplayer online RPG with over 1,000 players per server that’s set in the 17th century mixing real-world history with fantastical creatures, magic, and mythology.
Amazon Games has been working on New World for over three years. An initial Closed Alpha testing period ran from October 2018 to June 2019 for early player feedback and the game has continued evolving since then.
In New World players from around the world will fight together (and against one another) to secure and establish the monster-covered island of Aeternum. To get ready for the game’s launch later this year we compiled everything we know so far about New World in one place, including information on its release date, story, various gameplay features, and much more.
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When Does New World Come Out?
As of right now, New World does not have a definitive release date. But at the 2019 Game Awards last year, the new cinematic trailer revealed that Amazon Games is planning to launch New World in May 2020 exclusively for PC.
What is New World’s Story and Premise?
Rather than trying to emulate history directly, New World is entirely fictional but uses 17th century explorers and new land discovery as its basis of inspiration. In New World you take control of an intrepid adventurer that finds themselves on the shores of Aeternum, also known as the Eternal Isle.
The land of Aeternum is overflowing with Azoth, a powerful substance that’s rumored to be capable of bestowing eternal life — sort of like the Fountain of Youth. Obviously, you and fellow travelers are compelled to investigate further. Aeternum is, on paper, a diverse region with a mixture of beautiful landscapes and supernatural geographical anomalies.
Once you arrive though you’ll discover that Aeternum is anything but an idyllic paradise. Creatures cover the island and grotesque monsters roam freely. A powerful and twisted force known as The Corruption has overtaken the land and infected anything it comes into contact with.
You’ve got to fight back The Corruption, take control of the land, and compete with other rival explorers to stake your claim and secure your legacy.
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Does New World Have a Class System?
There are no classes in New World. Instead, your gear and playstyle define the type of character that you play. Players define their characters through the Weapon Mastery, Attributes, and Endless Tradeskill progression systems.
The Weapon Mastery system acts as a replacement for a traditional class system — every weapon has skill trees to upgrade. So the more you use a certain weapon, the higher level that weapon becomes and then unlocks paths along the skill tree. You’ll also be able to quickly switch to different weapons on the fly.
What Does New World Gameplay Look Like?
New World isn’t a passive tab-targeting based MMO. Instead, it uses a more fast-paced action-focused combat system. The developers have specifically cited Dark Souls as a key influence, albeit more accessible, for how combat feels, which is a stark contrast to most MMOs. Player characters, weapons, and everything has collisions in the game world and requires actual contact to do damage. There are still cooldowns and abilities to trigger, but it’s within that simulated physical space rather than simply targeting a character.
Generally, combat is split into three core types: melee, physical ranged like bows, and magical ranged. Skill, technique, and knowledge will be more important than sheer character level. Being higher level will not guarantee success in combat for either PvP or PvE.
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What is the New World Territory System?
Player Companies own areas within the land mass itself, called territories, and those Companies are in charge of everything from setting taxes to determining community projects like upgrading blacksmithing to getting more wall canons, or other initiatives. Players that own land or homes within a territory don’t get to elect leaders, leadership is decided by the Company that controls the territory.
But when a War happens, which is explained in more detail in the next section, players that live in a territory have the opportunity to pick a side to fight for in that War. Maybe the attacking Company promises to lower tax rates? You’ll get to choose where your loyalty lies.
How does New World PvP Work?
During initial Closed Alpha testing PvP (Player-versus-Player) in New World was extremely dangerous. No matter where you went players could attack each other and you could lose your entire inventory of gear. Since then, things have changed to move away from incentivizing PKing (player killing, griefing, and surprise attacking lower level players) to instead encourage consensual, competitive combat.
With the current game format, the formal PvP modes are entirely opt-in experiences split between two major types: War and open world PvP. War is a massive 50 vs. 50 player battle that begins when a Company (the New World version of a Guild or Clain) declares war on a territory they want to take over that’s owned by a different Company. From there each Company will draft a roster of 50 combatants and agree on a time. It’s combat by appointment.
The War happens on protected battlefields so only those confirmed for the War can participate which ensures a fair fight. Defenders have to protect their flag which is at the center of the Fort while Attackers try to claim it. The War only ends if the Attackers break through and claim the flag, or the time limit expires. Throughout the battle both sides earn points for supplies, upgrades, gear, and other reinforcements.
Outside of that mode there is still the ability for open world PvP combat, but it’s not always on by default like it was in Alpha testing. Now, you have to opt-in and flag yourself for being open to PvP. In order to opt-in this way you’ll have to be in a Faction and in order to join a Faction you must be at least level 10. When you do this you’ll be eligible for increased rewards, even while exploring and doing PvE content. Because of this, there is no longer a criminal system since all open world PvP is opt-in.
There will not be any forced PvP-only servers at launch.
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Does New World Have PvE Content?
Even though PvP is a huge part of what makes New World what it is, PvE is just as important. It’s entirely possible to play New World without ever engaging in PvP if you wanted, but trying both is the best way to get everything you can out of the game.
Currently, there are no instanced dungeons or raids in New World at all. Instead, PvE content is mostly in the form of questing, open world events, world bosses, and group content across the map as a whole.
Another core aspect of New World is a focus on crafting and light survival mechanics that require players to gather materials, hunt, and establish territory.
Does New World Have Microtransactions?
Amazon Games have confirmed there will be an in-game cash shop in New World where you can spend real money for in-game digital items, but details around what will be available in the cash shop are not available at this time.
How Do You Get into the New World Closed Beta?
If you don’t want to wait until launch to play New World, you don’t have to. If you pre-order either the Standard Edition or Deluxe Edition of New World you’ll not only get access to all of the associated bonuses listed above, but you’ll also get to play a month early in the Closed Beta, which starts in April 2020.
There’s no specific date for the Closed Beta just yet, but pre-ordering will secure your spot early.
New World Minimum and Recommended Specs
According to the official New World website, minimum and recommended PC specs are as follows:
New World Minimum Specs
- Operating System: Windows 8 64-bit, DirectX 11
- Processor: Intel Core i5-2400K, AMD CPU w/ 4 physical cores @ 3Ghz
- Video: NVIDIA GTX 670 2GB, AMD Radeon R9 280
- Memory: 8GB RAM
- Stoage: 7200 HDD
New World Recommended Specs
- Operating System: Windows10 64-bit, DirectX 12
- Processor: Intel Core i7-2600K, AMD Ryzen 5 1400
- Video: NVIDIA GTX 970, AMD Radeon R9 390X
- Memory: 16GB RAM
- Storage: SSD
Stay tuned to IGN for hands-on impressions and more about New World in the coming months.
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Source: IGN.com New World: Everything We Know About Amazon's MMO