Amazon's ambitious MMO New World gets third delay, now expected in August
Closed Beta coming in July.
Amazon Game Studios' massively multiplayer online title New World has received its third delay, with the game now anticipated to release on 31st August - somewhat later than its previously announced launch window of "spring" this year.
New World was initially due to arrive last May, but saw its release pushed back to August 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Amazon then opted to delay the game again in July, shifting the launch of both the full game and its final beta into this year.
That additional development time has so far, according to Amazon's latest New World development update, resulted in improvements to crafting and combat, as well as increased quest, weapon, and armour variety. Fishing has also been added, the map has been expanded to include the new Reekwater region, and work has been done to increase the amount of mid-game and end-game content.
Despite all that, Amazon says there's still work to be done, and the studio requires additional development time for polishing, fine tuning, and to focus on "compelling end-game features we believe are important to include at launch".
"These features won't be ready for the Spring timeframe that we had communicated," it explains in its update. "With that in mind, we will release New World on August 31, 2021."
As a result of these changes, New World's closed beta - which was also intended to run this spring - will now take place on 20th July. Those that pre-order the game will be granted access to the beta, and will have the opportunity to experience a new end-game zone known as Ebonscale Reach, alongside five-player instanced Expeditions, and 20 vs. 20 Outpost Rush battles, where teams fight for control of strongholds and strategic resources.
A few additional beta details can be found in Amazon's blog post, and for more insight into the troubles plaguing Amazon's early forays into the world of video games - which also saw its hero shooter Crucible cancelled less than five months after launch - it's well worth checking out a recent report from Bloomberg's Jason Schreier.