New World, the sandbox MMO from Amazon, is coming in May
Battle for control of a spooky Atlantic island
Amazon Game Studios today announced plans to launch New World, their supernatural 17th century coloniser MMO, in May 2020. Off we'll head to a mysterious fictional Atlantic island to battle creatures, cultists, and sometimes other players. This news comes six months after Amazon's internal game development group reportedly laid off dozens off staff and binned several projects, and I am a little surprised that New World has survived. Here, a new trailer from The Game Awards shows a little more of Aeternum, the Eternal Isle.
Amazon are still talking about New World with a fair degree of vagueness. I believe it's a multiplayer sandbox sorta thing with crafting, building, player-formed organisations, character progression but no classes, PvE monsters to battle, and occasional manmurdering. And big fights. Today's press release blasted this buzzy blurb:
"Massive battles set New World apart, with fortress sieges against other players and supernatural invasions, featuring up to 100 players on the battlefield at once. Combat in New World is visceral and skill-based, giving players direct control over their movements and attacks. Players can band together to form powerful Companies operating out of fortified strongholds, or play alone and acquire and customise their own homes as they contribute to the growth of the larger community around them. New World provides near-limitless play, with classless character progression, social systems, and rich crafting mechanics."
May is not far off now, and tonight they released teaser clips of upcoming video developer diaries, so we should see more of the actual game soon.
Check out the night's other announcements and trailers on our Game Awards tag.