Things Are Looking Really Bad For Amazon's New World

If it's not one thing plaguing an Amazon game, it's another. Amazon Game's "New World" has already dodged some issues in the weeks since its full release. The game had a rocky start, with major server issues causing headaches for fans, but now players are wondering if the game can be saved at all. The "New World" economy is in dire straits, and no one, not even Amazon, knows how to fix it.

Soon after the title released, players with some of the most powerful and expensive PC components found the game frying their graphics cards. Despite this, fans were adamant in sticking around, helping breathe life into the new MMO. Now, those very same fans will either have to double down on their commitment or join those who've already tossed in the towel. 

While the game isn't fundamentally broken in a way that prevents players from progressing at all, a meaningless currency system and the steady breakdown of economic rule are making "New World" hard to enjoy. Players have taken to forming socialist in-game alliances (per TheGamer) and forgoing currency in favor of trade, trying to weather the storm any way they can until something changes. But how did things get this bad this quickly?

"New World" ended up in its economic conundrum because of a few things. For one, as noted by fans, Amazon didn't balance the title's rewards to the cost of adventuring. As a result, TheGamer reports, completing quests and selling off any looted valuables doesn't quite cover the cost of repairing items or paying in-game taxes. The second (and probably most significant) is that an exploit was discovered early on that allowed players to amass gold, which almost immediately made the game's currency less valuable.

Amazon wants to find a solution for "New World" players, but it's stumped. A simple forced rollback (restoring the game to a previous state) would solve the issues, but many players understandably don't want to lose their progress. The game's developers have officially confirmed this isn't in the cards, lest more players become frustrated with the game.

Amazon has had a rough go of things since the launch of Amazon Games. In fact, "New World" is currently the sole survivor out of the original line-up of video games announced by Amazon back in 2016. "Crucible," a hero-based competitive shooter, launched briefly and was then pulled and subsequently canceled. "Breakaway," a hero-based brawler, never even made it that far before cancelation (per Polygon). Putting all the company's efforts on New World was one more chance for Amazon to deliver something that'd steer the company towards being a serious gaming competitor — and now it's unclear if that'll pay off.