After the huge success of New World‘s Closed Beta that ran at the beginning of August, the game was delayed until September 28th. While the Closed Beta brought in 200,000 players, those players then went on to uncover some mechanical and server issues with the game.
Originally due to launch in just a few day’s time, New World was delayed for further fixes. It was announced today that there will be another Beta period that runs between the 9th and 12th of September. Unlike the Closed Beta period, this is an Open Beta, and totally free-to-play.
🧭 Chart your course and determine your fate!
From shipwrecked survivor to legendary hero, grow as an adventurer as you explore the ancient mysteries of Aeternum!
Open Beta starts September 9th!
⚔️ https://t.co/rjftWBn6Ao pic.twitter.com/iMpyeLVXOI— New World (@playnewworld) August 25, 2021
The Open Beta was announced during Gamescom and many fans are super excited to dive back into the world of Aeturnum. No progress carries over from the original beta, and nothing will be saved for the launch of the game.
However, unlike the Closed Beta, the Open Beta is free. Completely free. You don’t need to have pre-ordered the game. It’s a great opportunity to see whether the MMO is for you ahead of the late September release.
New World is a brand new MMO from Amazon Studios. Its Closed Beta sent the pre-orders for both the Standard and Deluxe editions of the game to the Steam top seller’s list and the game held a consistent viewership of over 100,000 viewers on Twitch for most of the beta.
Designed around a classless leveling system, the game promotes a heavy use of the crafting menu, encourages large-scale PvP events, and feels social in ways that many recent MMOs just haven’t – you can read about it in the review here.
Despite some clear flaws in the game, New World received pretty solid reviews across the board from its player base, although those who spent over a hundred hours during the beta have pointed out some issues — mostly to do with the unbalanced faction system, poor enemy AI, and a lack of endgame content.
Much of this will hopefully be addressed ahead of the game’s launch. The game has already undergone hundreds of changes since its original Alpha, and more changes are expected ahead of the open beta. It’s likely this period will be used as a stress test for server performance, something that was severely lacking during the closed beta.
Patch notes are expected to be released ahead of the open beta.
