New World interview — How Amazon Games brought an MMO (close) to the finish line

Amazon Games hasn’t had the best track record with shipping games, as the tech giant tries to move beyond being a seller to a maker. Previous titles like Breakaway and Crucible were canceled after poor receptions in testing and rollout. But now, Amazon is nearing the launch of New World, a massively multiplayer online game that fulfills the mission that Jeff Bezos gave to the developers: make games with ridiculous computation.

New World is a big MMO set in a fictional age of conquest where three factions battle each other for control of an island continent. The players can fight in huge 100-person fortress battles or craft the weaponry and clothing that others need. It’s a pretty deep game, and a lot can either go wrong or right. Amazon has a lot at stake in the launch, as the company can’t really afford another failure with New World if it wants to be taken seriously in the game business.