Amazon delays its MMO, New World, by three months

Amazon’s upcoming fantasy MMORPG New World has been delayed by three months. In an update that probably surprised nobody, Amazon Game Studios announced that the title won’t make its May release. Instead, it will now drop on August 25. This is yet another delay attributed to the global crisis, though the community is skeptical about whether COVID-19 is truly the perpetrator.

The New World delay is, perhaps, a good thing?

“Like most of you,” Amazon wrote in its update, “our entire team has been sequestered as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic. While we are still making great progress, developing an ambitious MMO like New World remotely has introduced some challenges. We want to make sure that we have the time needed to make New World the very best it can be for our players.”

The message goes on to explain that Amazon takes the utmost care of the health of its employees, and it asks for understanding during these strange times. But many in the MMO community quickly jumped to the conclusion that they are simply using the pandemic as a convenient scapegoat. They believe Amazon Game Studios underestimated what it takes to create an MMO as big as New World.

Regardless, many see the delay as a positive, as it will allow Amazon to fix a game that they believe is not even close to ready for release. However, there are also those who looked forward to the beta this month and pre-ordered for that reason. They are understandably annoyed that they are now not getting what they paid for. Several such individuals are asking Amazon for guaranteed access to the alpha, at least.

And while the game is still in alpha, a release for next month was looking far too close for comfort. It’s a mightily dangerous time for MMOs to release in a broken or underwhelming state, as proven by Final Fantasy XIV and Wildstar.

In the meantime, the New World alpha remains open as the team continues to work on the game. You can still sign up for it, too.