Amazon has announced that it will delay the release of its upcoming MMO, New World, until August 25, 2020, as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The New World CLosed Beta has also been delayed to July, pushed back from its original April 2020 launch.
In a new blog post, Amazon Games announced that despite developers working on the game from home, “developing an ambitious MMO like New World remotely has introduced some challenges.” This is why the developers opted to delay the launch “to reach our quality bar as we work remotely for the foreseeable future.”
New World is an upcoming MMO from Amazon Game Studios. Set in a fictional world, players will take up the role of colonists exploring a new land terrorized by supernatural monsters. Players will scavenge for resources and build settlements that they’ll then have to defend from monsters and other players.
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The Alpha for New World will remain open as development continues, and Amazon is promising more information and updates between now and the August launch. The developers also shared new details about a mechanic called “Invasion.”
In Invasion, monster hordes will build up power and numbers before laying siege on a Fort that’s become too powerful. Players must work together to defend the Fort against invaders. Failure will result in the Territory losing some upgrades, like Crafting Stations, and other assets.
Invasion appears to be co-operated PvE events that take place every four days. A Governor of the Territory can choose 10 heroes for the Invasion, and the remaining 40 slots will be filled randomly from a pool of players who signed up to take part in the next invasion.
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An Invasion is split into multiple phases. During Preparation, players will need to use special Battle Tokens to purchase ammo and potions, and other weapons to help fight off the monsters. The enemies will arrive in hordes, first trying to tear down the gate.
Players will either successfully defend the Fort or be overrun. Amazon says this is a level 50 activity, so it will be reserved for high-level players.
Read IGN’s hands-on preview for New World, or check out our interview with Amazon Game Studios about the company’s first major video game launch.
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Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.
Source: IGN.com New World, Amazon's Upcoming MMO, Delayed to August