Is New World pay to win? Amazon reveals microtransactions details

Amazon's New World MMO has just entered its last closed beta testing ahead of the official release later this summer.

The game aims to offer a definitive MMO experience that combines PvP, exploration, and a factions system where players can gather in communities and towns where each player can settle and find their place in a thriving and complex economy of those settlements.

There's a lot to be excited about when it comes to New World, but a lot to be cautious about as well, based on the previous experience with failed Amazon projects.

While players are naturally concerned about the quality of gameplay, balance, and simply how engaging and fun the gameplay loop will be, one thing that particularly worries players is the question of if the game will have a pay-to-win (P2W) model.

Amazon responds to New World pay-to-win concerns

New World's standard edition is priced at $39.99 and Amazon insists that players will not be forced to pay anything more for the full experience.

However, the game will feature an in-game shop that will use premium currency (bought with real money) that players can use for in-game purchases.

This in-game store that uses a premium currency was available to players during the alpha, but without the possibility to use real-life money, and Amazon explained back then that nothing is final and they will monitor user feedback closely.

Speaking to Eurogamer, New World creative director David Verfaillie recently said: "We have definitely heard the feedback from players. Our focus is we do not want this to be a pay-to-win experience. The emphasis is on cosmetics: that's all we'll be doing at launch."

According to Verfaillie, the majority of items available in-store will be purely cosmetic and all of them will be obtainable through gameplay as well.

When it comes to items that are not cosmetic, Verfaillie explains that everything they will add will be qualify-of-life items and that they will be very careful not to break the balance of the game or offer an unfair advantage compared to those players who are not using premium currency.

When asked about concrete examples, Verfaillie confirmed that those will be things like additional storage, rested XP and fast travel, which are all obtainable in-game and purchasable in the store.

It is important to note that New World will not have a paid subscription, you will only need to purchase the game once, everything else will be optional.

Asides from the in-game store, Amazon states that they have in plan to later introduce a battle pass system, which will offer a mix of store items and early access to some new items.

• Read more: EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 cards reportedly getting fried while playing New World

Finally, Amazon emphasizes that nothing is final yet and that's why they are currently testing everything during the closed beta, and things may, and will change before the full release, on 31st August.