New World Open Beta Begins September 9, Here's How To Join

After multiple delays and numerous alpha and beta tests, Amazon Game Studio's MMO New World is finally nearing its September 28 release date, with one final open beta test planned before launch. The final beta is available for anyone to jump in and play.

The open beta runs September 9-12 and is available to play through Steam, but players will first need to request access to join the beta. To do that, you'll need to login to your Steam account and navigate to the New World page on Steam. Under the various "Pre-purchase New World" options will be a button that says "Join the New World Open Beta Playtest." Click to request access, and Amazon will send an email to the email address associated with your Steam account letting you know when you are able to download the beta.

New World's previous closed beta saw the game rise to the top of Steam's best-sellers, since pre-ordering the game granted immediate beta access. During the beta, more than 200,000 concurrent players explored the game's world of Aeternum at once. It also caused some graphics cards to fail, an issue that has since been resolved.

A successful launch for New World would be big deal for Amazon, which thus far hasn't found much success in the realm of video game development. A recent Bloomberg report documented mismanagement at Amazon Game Studios, and Amazon's previous game, Crucible, actually went back into closed beta following its official release, before being cancelled entirely. After Crucible's demise, developers on the Crucible team instead shifted to helping get New World out the door. Originally set to release last year, New World saw multiple delays due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the game's development, with Amazon using that time to add additional content to the game.