When Amazon first announced New World, it initially planned to release the MMO in May 2020. Earlier this year, the company delayed the game to August 25th due to the coronavirus pandemic. As a kind of apology for the latest delay, people who signed up for New World‘s open beta, pre-ordered the game or took part in its alpha test will be able to play the RPG in its current state for “a limited period” starting on August 25th.
The delay comes a week-and-a-half after Amazon took the unusual step of rolling back the availability of its hero-based shooter Crucible following a rough launch. As of July 1st, the game is once again in closed beta so that developer Relentless can polish its gameplay. Amazon Games has been working on New World for more than four years. With how much massively online games cost to develop, it’s understandable that the studio would want to take more time to give the project a chance at success.