Amazon Game Studios releases “New World”

Amazon Game Studios’ MMO “New World” was finally released Tuesday, following a bumpy development cycle from the embattled game maker.

The details: “New World,” available for PC, strands players on an island called Aeternum where “the fundamental laws of life and death are broken.”

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• The game allows for solo adventuring or team-ups with other players as factions trying to gain control of the island.

• According to Steam, the game currently has more than 700,000 concurrent players, making it the top game on Tuesday.

• It’s experiencing some launch day hiccups with login queues and server issues, though the developer notes its team is working on them.

The big picture: Amazon’s track record with games is rough, and it’s relying heavily on “New World” to count as a win.

• Amazon Games vice president Christoph Hartmann told the New York Times that the title “has to be our breakthrough game — there’s no doubt about it. Just for morale of people, at some point you want to see some success.”

• “New World” was originally set for a May 2020 release date, before several delays pushed it back.

Despite Amazon’s deep pockets, the company has struggled for nearly a decade now to successfully break into the games sector.

What’s next: The game is off to a strong start — a positive sign for Amazon Game Studios’ future in this industry.

• “I have no indication that the company is getting tired of its gaming division, I just see support left and right,” Hartmann told GamesIndustry.

• “Once we deliver a big hit, which I think ‘New World’ will be, we’ll just get even more support because we’ve proven ourselves.”

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