Amazon has been stepping into a more expansive role in the past decade, originally an online bookstore that has transitioned into one of the most popular shopping websites. The company’s creative side has also emerged with their Amazon Prime membership that includes Amazon Video original series and movies. The next step came with the announcement from Amazon Game Studios of their very own MMO, New World.
Few specifics are known about the game outside of screenshots, descriptions from Amazon, and the Alpha sign up. Though, several details were revealed at Gamescom last month. New World takes place in a fictional and medieval style MMO with hundreds of players across a vast land. It will involve encountering the supernatural and battling raider bandits. Artwork shows players hunting large animals like bears too. Stronghold fortifications will maintain stations for crafting using magical and weapon materials. How extensive the crafting system will be is unknown at this time. Screenshots display an array clothing, armor, and weapons like axes and even rifles.
Players will be able to team up with friends or other online players to attack and defend territories. The more you conquer will affect a group’s ability to “consolidate power and compel loyalty.” It is not known whether the groups that you form with allies will be according to predetermined factions or if players’ forces will themselves be the major actors in the power struggle. These groups will also be able to form specializations such as “craftspeople, mercenaries, prospectors, and architects.” This implies that structural building may be an aspect of the game.
The public is eager for more details about the game to be released soon, since making New World stand apart from other current MMOs will be the most difficult challenge for Amazon. This may come sooner than later for Amazon accounts, which can be alerted through email and enable users to register for the Alpha test. Amazon users can visit New World’s page here and click “Email Me” to receive updates on the status of the Alpha build’s availability. Will Amazon accounts also have additional perks or discounts in the game? Skepticism surrounds this major leap for Amazon, but the only way for fair judgement of what to expect is a hands-on demonstration.
As of today, Amazon notes that New World will only be supported on OS: Windows 10.