New World Is Riding A Pre-Release Wave, And That's A Good Sign For Amazon

Amazon Games' upcoming MMORPG New World is having a moment in the spotlight prior to its August 31 release, currently sitting as the most-viewed game on Twitch and best-selling game on Steam.

It's all largely thanks to the game's closed beta, which is now live. Preordering the game, either via Steam or Amazon, gives players guaranteed beta access. Many Twitch streamers are doing beta key giveaways and have drops enabled, allowing viewers to score in-game loot just by watching streams.

Amazon, of course, owns Twitch, so it makes sense that Twitch would be an essential part of New World marketing. It's safe to say there are likely more than a few streamers who have been paid to promote the game. Some of the biggest streamers in the business are currently playing New World, including the likes of TimTheTatMan and Asmongold.

That's been done before in the past with previous Amazon Games titles, including an extended beta test for New World itself last year following the game's delay into 2021, as well as with the short-lived third person hero shooter/battle royale Crucible, which rode a very brief high as one of the top-viewed games on Twitch before becoming one of the only games in history to be unreleased into closed beta. Crucible was abandoned entirely shortly after, with developers who worked on the game instead shifting to help on New World and other "other upcoming projects."

But the Twitch integration for New World goes a bit deeper than simply having streamers promote the game. On certain streams, players can link their Twitch account and collect resources that randomly appear on stream. Those resources are then used to craft weapons, which in turn reward points to that streamer's in-game faction of choice. It's an interesting interactive element that makes watching the streams a little more engaging as players wait to score a drop.

The beta has so far been such a success that the game was experiencing server issues, with many players waiting in queues to login. Amazon has since added numerous servers for the closed beta to meet demand. One issue that has cropped up are player reports of New World essentially bricking high-end graphics cards, a major problem that could put a dent in the game's forward momentum if not fixed soon.

Despite the graphics card problem, it's mostly good news for Amazon Games. Regardless of what happens when the game actually launches, New World is already Amazon's most successful game by a mile. While that's not exactly saying much given Amazon's previous video game track record, it is a step in the right direction, and proof that perhaps the studio does have what it takes to make a hit.