It seems like Amazon’s gaming division finally has a success on its hands, with the release of its new massive multiplayer online game New World. Despite just releasing today, New World player numbers have broken 500,000 players online at the same time, though how long it actually stays that high remains a mystery.
New World puts players in the role of an explorer that washes up on the mystical island of Aeternum, where they can cooperate or compete against other players for dominance over the island and its resources. Players can also join one of three factions: the Marauders, the Covenant, and the Syndicate.
New World’s popularity puts it in the Top 5 most-played games on Steam at the moment. It sits at the number 5 spot, below PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Defense of the Ancients 2, and Cyberpunk 2077, in order from the Number One spot to the Number Four spot.
Exactly how long New World player numbers will remain at that level, however, remains to be seen. New World has had plenty of advertising and had several open beta periods before releasing today, but it’s likely the game will experience a die-off of player numbers after people get a good enough view of what the game is about.
While New World promises a large world to explore, plenty of enemies and players to fight, and even the ability to build settlements, previous attempts by Amazon to break into the video gaming scene haven’t gone over as well, such as Crucible.
That game was so bad on launch that it actually had to be un-released after its release date, and was shut down a mere five months after coming out. While New World seems like a much heavier (and better put-together investment), all we can do at this point is wait for reviews and see if New World player numbers maintain a healthy population after its opening days.
You can currently play New World for yourself exclusively on the PC.