A New World review bomb is underway on Steam. Users are posting negative reviews complaining of excessively long queue times due to the New World server limit of 2,000, with many saying they haven't been able to play the game at all.
What's the reason for this New World review bomb?
This New World review bomb has to do with the large number of players attempting to play the game. New World has hit a peak player count of 700,000, beating perennial top dog Counter-Strike: Global Offensive for most concurrent players yesterday. However, because of this huge influx, many players haven't been able to log into the game, with huge queue times preventing them from playing. This is thanks to Amazon imposing a New World server limit of 2,000 players per server (originally, this limit was 1,000, but it was expanded soon after launch). As a result, disgruntled players have taken to Steam to voice their displeasure. New World is currently sitting at a "Mixed" user rating on Steam, with a split of almost 50-50 between positive and negative reviews.
How is Amazon addressing the New World server issues?
New World launched yesterday after an extremely popular closed beta period earlier this year. Right off the bat, players complained that the servers were full. Amazon has increased server player limits from 1,000 to 2,000 in order to accommodate more players, but with so many queueing to get into the game, this hasn't done much to alleviate the problem for a lot of hopeful players. The official New World Twitter account is currently getting inundated with tweets from players complaining that they can't get into the game. In response, Amazon posted the following message.
Amazon Game Studios says it's aware of the New World server issues and is opening up more servers in an attempt to accommodate everyone who wants to play New World. So far, the devs have opened servers in North America and are working on creating additional servers for Australia. The studio also says it'll offer players the chance to move to a new server at no cost within the next two weeks. Finally, Amazon promises that once it's confident these changes won't result in any serious issues for New World, it will expand the capacity of the servers that are already open.
What exactly is New World, and why is it so popular?
New World is a new MMO from Amazon Game Studios. It's the studio's biggest game to date, following on from the rather less popular Crucible and a couple of canceled projects including a Lord of the Rings game. New World is set in an alternate 17th-century-style world and tasks players with building a colony; you can engage in combat, craft items, gather materials, and plenty more. The devs boast that the game's combat system is entirely classless, so you can mix and match styles to create a personal combo you feel comfortable with.
New World promises a great degree of personal freedom. If you don't feel like engaging in the combat, you can go build yourself a homestead, or join a Company (an in-game organization of players) that already has one. One thing you can't do, however, includes the words "Bezos" or "Amazon", or any variation of the same, in your character name. At least, that's what we thought; Reddit user LaviTheTerrorist posted a screenshot of a player whose name appears to be "JeffrieBezos". Maybe it's actually Jeff himself, taking some time out from his space odysseys to unwind. We'll bring you more on New World as we get it.
Are you playing New World right now? Have you managed to get into the game? Let us know in the comments below!