Amazon's New World MMORPG releases new trailer and Open Beta update

Amazon's New World is unique in that there are instanced missions (called Expeditions) that 5-player groups can undertake which will be unique every time. Loot, encounters, puzzles, and boss battles will not be the same for each instance. This is markedly different from existing MMORPGs like World of Warcraft where the parameters of the quests are generally fixed.

Aside from adventuring, New World will have a rich and varied economic and social system. Players can and will be expected to gather and provide resources and services that other players will use. Everything from logging, stonecutting, smelting, harvesting, weaponsmithing, and such will be determined by the player population and developing their trade skills. Although there are MMORPGs that have attempted a similar scope with regard to the resource gathering and production such as Ultima Online and Albion, Amazon Game Studios' New World aims for even greater ranges and extent. Open Beta trailer and release date A brief New World Open Beta stress-test will run from September 9 to September 12, 2021.

The New World Closed Beta was expected in 2020, but due to technical issues and the COVID-19 pandemic, the game had to be delayed more than once. It finally launched in July 2021. After a rocky start due to alleged reports of bricking Nvidia RTX 3090 graphics cards and delaying the initial August 2021 release, the end of the Closed Beta and the release of the Open Beta have been finalized and announced during GamesCom.

At the official New World blog, the development team extended their gratitude to the participants of the Closed Beta:

Before diving into the details and announcement, we'd like to extend another thank you to everyone who participated in our Closed Beta. We're humbled by the wonderful response, and extremely thankful for all the ways players across the globe have helped us prepare for launch. We still have some work to do before releasing New World on September 28, and the Closed Beta has helped immeasurably by testing our servers, helping us find bugs, providing us with a ton of constructive feedback, and granting many more key learnings to help our team prepare and adjust.

In addition, they issued an announcement for a period of Open Beta through the Steam Playtest feature in order to test server-issues and possible population concerns:

During Closed Beta, we ran into both server issues and over-population resulting in queue times, preventing some players from being able to experience the danger and beauty found in Aeternum. To ensure that everyone has a chance to experience New World ahead of our September 28 launch, we're excited to announce that we will be holding an Open Beta test. The Open Beta test will utilize Steam's new Playtest feature, which allows all interested players in our supported regions to request access to the test, for free. Servers will be available in North America, Europe, Australia and South America.

The Open Beta for Amazon's New World will start on September 9, 2021 (7:00AM PT) and run through September 12, 2021 (11:59PM PT). Players interested in joining the brief Open Beta can register for access on September 8, 2021 (7:00AM PT).

During the Open Beta period, players will be able to download and play the game for free. Players can also order the pre-release for $39.99 for the Standard Edition and $49.99 for the Deluxe Edition. There will be no monthly fee. Players participating in the Open Beta should take note that not all progress will be retained (if any at all).

Amazon Game Studios' New World will be released on September 28, 2021 for the Windows PC.