Amazon MMO New World ‘not yet considered for consoles’

Amazon Game Studios hasn’t yet considered the possibility of bringing upcoming MMO New World to consoles, according to game director Scot Lane.

Announced in September 2016, the sandbox MMO takes place on a haunted island called Aeternum during the 17th century.

Featuring skill-based combat, classless character progression, social systems and crafting mechanics, Amazon says “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.”

Amazon revealed on Thursday that the game will be released for PC in 2020. And while not ruling out a console version at some point, director Lane told Eurogamer the studio is fully focused on harnessing the power of the PC platform to fulfil its vision for the game.

“[Consoles are] not something we’ve specced or considered yet,” he said. “I love console development, I’ve made a lot of console games, [but] on this we’re pushing the graphics as far as we can. That’s one of the big things we want to bring to the genre: to make a different-looking MMO than you’ve seen.

“And I think our combat at scale: there’s a lot of things we can push because as PCs get more powerful, it allows us to add more and more to it over time.”

Players who pre-order New World from participating retailers will receive access to a closed beta in April 2020. Amazon currently lists the game for release on May 26, 2020. It’s priced at $39.99/£34.99.

Amazon Game Studios revealed in July it’s co-developing a free-to-play Lord of the Rings MMO for PC and consoles.

More recent reports claim Amazon is gearing up to announce its own game streaming service in 2020.